Money means many things to many people, across cultures and in different periods of history.

However, the most

universally accepted definition is that money is something that stores value. Hmm it leaves a lot to be explained, but to
really understand it, lets take a look back in time and see how people fared with the concept of money and in particular,
lets relate it with our own history as a nation.
Money Before Time
Even before this country became known as the Philippines, our people have already been trading wares with each other
and with people from different countries and cultures. The practice has been known as the Barter System and its hard to
trace where and when it begun exactly. In a barter trade, anything of value (products or services) can be exchanged by
consenting parties who believe the transaction to be beneficial to each other. Juan can trade his cow with Joses knife (or
sometimes even wife). Or, a bag of rice can be exchanged for a piece of hammer. In the case of service barter, Joe can
cook your favourite food one fine afternoon and you agree to compensate him for his efforts with a fine piece of Persian
rug.
Even today, the spirit of barter trade is still alive and practiced in some situations. You can exchange your iPad with your
friends netbook. Or, his sunglasses with your gold necklace.
As easy as it is, the barter system is also a cumbersome transaction. Throughout time, man has devised other facilities to
easy and the exchange, which will eventually become the inspiration of modern money system. Theyve used such things
as the following to act as medium of exchange:
o Cattle 9000 6000 BC (cows, sheeps, camels, etc)
o Cowries Shells 12000 BC The cowrie is the most widely and longest used currency in history.
o 1000 B.C.: First Metal Money and Coins
o 118 B.C.: Leather Money
o 806 : Paper Currency
Finally, We Have A Name!
During the early part of the year 1521, the country was ruled by Spain and remained so for roughly 300 years. This is the
time in history when we also got the name Philippines.
Records from the BSP has this to say:
Three hundred years of Spanish rule left many indelible imprints on Philippine numismatics. At the end of the Spanish
regime, Philippine money was a multiplicity of currencies that included Mexican pesos, Alfonsino pesos and copper coins
of other currencies.
Coins from other Spanish colonies also reached the Philippines and were counterstamped. Gold coins with the portrait of
Queen Isabela were minted in Manila. Silver pesos with the profile of young Alfonso XIII were the last coins minted in
Spain. The pesos fuertes, issued by the countrys first bank, the El Banco Espanol Filipino de Isabel II, were the first paper
money circulated in the country.
The Revolutionary Period 1898-1899
When the Philippines gained its independence from Spain in 1898, the government begun to issue and use our very first
currency in the form of coins and papers backed, not by gold, but by the countrys natural resources.
In our almighty One Peso note was printed, Republika Filipina Papel Moneda de Un Peso. The other paper money is
the Five Peso note, which bore Cinco Pesos in its print. Copper-based coins of lower denomination were also in
circulation.
Here Comes Uncle Sam
Long story short: The Spanish government sold the Philippines to the USA. The Americans have occupied the Philippines
for the period covering the years 1900 through 1941. But we also retained the use of our local currency, the Philippine
Peso, which was backed by gold a practice from which the name Gold Standard was derived. The Americans also
pegged the exchange rate of the Philippine Peso against the US Dollar at 2:1.
The Japs Are Coming
This is the advent of the Second World War. The Americans made way to the Japanese Forces. The War not only
devastated Manila and other parts of the country, but is alsocaused serious disturbances in the Philippine monetary
system.
The BSP has this to say about this turmoil:
Two kinds of notes circulated in the country during this period. The Japanese Occupation Forces issued war notes in big
denominations. Provinces and municipalities, on the other hand, issued their own guerrilla notes or resistance currencies,
most of which were sanctioned by the Philippine government in-exile, and partially redeemed after the war.
The Philippine Republic
At the end of the World War II, we also gained independence from the Americans. By then we made use as currency old
treasury certificates overprinted with the word Victory.
And finally in 1949, the country established the Central Bank of the Philippines, an agency which eventually sets the
policies and standards of our modern monetary system.

History of Philippine Money

Philippine moneymulti-colored threads woven into the fabric of our social, political and economic life. From its early
bead-like form to the paper notes and coins that we know today, our money has been a constant reminder of our journey
through centuries as a people relating with one another and with other peoples of the world.

Pre-Hispanic Era
Trade among the early Filipinos and with traders from the neighboring islands was
conducted through barter. The inconvenience of barter later led to the use of some
objects as medium of exchange. Gold, which was plentiful in many parts of the islands,
invariably found its way into these objects that included the piloncitos, small bead-likeb
gold bits considered by the local numismatists as the earliest coin of the ancient Filipinos,
and gold barter rings.

Spanish Era (1521-1897)
Three hundred years of Spanish rule left many indelible imprints on Philippine
numismatics. At the end of the Spanish regime, Philippine money was a multiplicity of
currencies that included Mexican pesos, Alfonsino pesos and copper coins of other
currencies.
The cobs or macuquinas of colonial mints were the earliest coins brought in by the
galleons from Mexico and other Spanish colonies. The silver dos mundos or pillar dollar is
considered one of the worlds most beautiful coins. The barilla, a crude bronze or copper
coin worth about one centavo, was the first coin struck in the country.
Coins from other Spanish colonies also reached the Philippines and were counterstamped. Gold coins with the portrait of
Queen Isabela were minted in Manila. Silver pesos with the profile of young Alfonso XIII were the last coins minted in
Spain. The pesos fuertes, issued by the countrys first bank, the El Banco Espanol Filipino de Isabel II, were the first
paper money circulated in the country.


Revolutionary Period (1898-1899)
Asserting its independence, the Philippine Republic of 1898 under General Emilio
Aguinaldo issued its own coins and paper currency backed by the countrys natural
resources.

One peso and five peso notes printed as Republika Filipina Papel Moneda de Un
Peso and Cinco Pesos were freely circulated. 2 centimos de peso copper were also
issued in 1899.



The American Period (1900-1941)
The Americans instituted a monetary system for the Philippine based on gold and
pegged the Philippine peso to the American dollar at the ratio of 2:1. The US
Congress approved the Coinage Act for the Philippines in 1903.

The coins issued under the system bore the designs of Filipino engraver and artist,
Melecio Figueroa. Coins in denomination of one-half centavo to one peso were
minted. The renaming of El Banco Espanol Filipino to Bank of the Philippine Islands
in 1912 paved the way for the use of English from Spanish in all notes and coins
issued up to 1933. Beginning May 1918, treasury certificates replaced the silver
certificates series, and a one-peso note was added.


The Japanese Occupation (1942-1945)

The outbreak of World War II caused serious disturbances in the Philippine
monetary system. Two kinds of notes circulated in the country during this period.
The Japanese Occupation Forces issued war notes in big denominations. Provinces
and municipalities, on the other hand, issued their own guerrilla notes or resistance
currencies, most of which were sanctioned by the Philippine government in-exile,
and partially redeemed after the war.


The Philippine Republic

A nation in command of its destiny is the message reflected in the evolution of
Philippine money under the Philippine Republic. Having gained independence
from the United States following the end of World War II, the country used as
currency old treasury certificates overprinted with the word Victory.

With the establishment of the Central Bank of the Philippines in 1949, the first
currencies issued were the English series notes printed by the Thomas de la Rue
& Co., Ltd. in England and the coins minted at the US Bureau of Mint. The
Filipinazation of the Republic coins and paper money began in the late 60s and
is carried through to the present. In the 70s, the Ang Bagong Lipunan (ABL)
series notes were circulated, which were printed at the Security Printing Plant
starting 1978. A new wave of change swept through the Philippine coinage
system with the flora and fauna coins initially issued in 1983. These series featured national heroes and species of flora
and fauna. The new design series of banknotes issued in 1985 replaced the ABL series. Ten years later, a new set of
coins and notes were issued carrying the logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.