Numismatic heritage

exhibits at NM Bohol

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—Spanish gold nuggets called piloncitos strung together to form a long necklace, gold rings and silver with irregular shapes which acted as money during the post barter period, are now available for public viewing at the National Museum of the Philippines in Bohol (NM-Bohol) for the whole month of August.

These rare old coins became, which at a time was displayed in a museum in Loboc, became inaccessible to public eye, but, NM Director of Museums in the Visayas, Atty, Ma. Cecilia Tirol hinted that as the exhibit forms “as tangible links to the country’s collective history, the numismatic heritage merits its space in the country’s main museum.”

Now available to the public light through the partnerships of the NM-Bohol, Sigala Arts and Cultural Heritage Research and Development Foundation, Inc., and the Center for Culture and the Arts Development of the Provincial Government of Bohol, through the Bohol Arts and Cultural Heritage Council (BACH), the coins form the bulk of Sensilyo: From Piloncito to Piso – Featuring Bohol Wartime Notes exhibit which runs through August.

Also done in time for the ASEAN Month and the National History Month, the Sensilyo Exhibit brings back rate 15th century to 1940’s numismatic collection features gold nuggets, barter rings, Galleon trade’s gold cobs possibly cut directly from bars and hammered like the hilis-kalamay which are weighted to their denominations.

Typical are the 1665 Spanish reales weighted in grams, silver cobs, again with irregular shapes, to the Spanish pillar coins featuring two pillars and globe, which also found the need, by local necessity of the crude copper coins called barillas (1743), serving as small change, quartos or octavos (1/4 and 1/8) of the copper coins, to the locally minted sampaloc coins.

It was the time when money mattered more in their weights; that is, their metal value than their face value, pointed out Michael Amores, Chairperson of the Philippine Cultural Heritage Research and Development Foundation, during the NM lectures, August 5.

By 1766, the Philippines first minted its copper coins, with the copper barillas (origins of the word barya) used in petty transactions, points.

At that same time too, Dos Mundos, which are accurately weighted silver coins arrived in the Philippines and circulated as the most beautifully designed coins with Utraque Unom (Both are one) inscriptions and the double pillars with two worlds.

As the galleon trade waned and Spanish colonies now creating their own coin systems, Latin American coins found their way to the Philippines. That with the local mints forced the Spaniards to regulate and accept only the counter-stamped coins. Coin stamps like Manila 1828 and F70 (for King Ferdinand) and Y.I.I for the successor Queen Isabel, Ferdinand’s daughter was stamped until 1837, Amores, also an avid numismatist and public accountant, said.

The stamping, while it devalued some coins, also allowed for boring of holes in the silver coins for easy carrying, and also acted as jewelry.

In 1897, the first silver peso minted exclusively for use in the Philippines came outbearing Filipinas. Following that were the gold mints which continued until 1904, when the Americans came to remove the Spanish coins as legal tender.

When the Americans took control in 1898, by 1903, silver coins of 1903 to 1912 became the centrepiece, one of the most beautiful coins ever issues for the Philippines, Amores shared.

The coin features a Filipina in traditional dress hitting an anvil, with Mayor volcano in the background. It also features an American eagle on top of a US shield, contained high silver content and the only coin that featured two countries.

During the Commonwealth period, a special coin came out with the commemorative peso featured Manuel L Quezon, Franklin Roosevelt and American Governor General Frank Murphy, the only American issued coin that honored the Filipino president.

Along with this, the smaller denominations from half a centavo called diyoy, to .50 centavos in copper, nickel or silver became the lifeblood of everyday commerce, Amores added.

World War II caused serious issues in the Philippine monetary system. There were notes circulated: the Japanese issued war notes in high denominations, but with no back up reserves. This is the “Mickey Mouse” money.

Countering that were Guerrilla Notes or Resistance Currencies in low denominations, issued by different provinces and, municipalities through their local currency boards to show resistance against the Japanese occupation.

In fact, according to Amores, towns in Bohol issued their own resistance money to counter the Japanese occupation money.

Most of the coins in the exhibit are from the Von’s Money Museum in Loboc, which was established in 2016 but closed post Odette, Janssen T. Bantugan, Chairperson of SIGALA Foundation and museum owner said.

These and the inscriptions of the periods, the coin's denomination, dates, images, shapes, sizes, colors, and any mint marks can be offering a peek into history, are all at the exhibit at the atrium of the National Museum in Bohol until the end of August. (PIABohol)

GOLD BANDS AND NECKLACES? To ordinary people, these can be easily mistaken as gold rings or ear-rings and necklace, but these hand-hammered gold and formed into a band was the country’s first tender, used to pay for goods and services. From piloncitos (middle), people later string these gold nuggets to form a necklace but stringing generally allows for a more efficient transport. These are among the items on exhibit at the NM Bohol. (PIAbohol)