Catalog
1 Peso
| Issuer | Tesoro de las Islas Filipinas |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The Royal Arms of Spain surmounted by a crown occupies the upper centre, flanked by ornate guilloche borders and corner numerals reading "1". The large bold title "BILLETE DEL TESORO" spans the centre field, with the denomination "UN PESO FUERTE" expressed in elaborate cartouches bearing the repeated legend "Ps.Fs.1". Three manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, attributed to El Director Oral de H., El Contador Oral de H.P., and El Tesorero Central, with the date "Manila 26 de Abril de 1877" inscribed above them. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse is blank, without any printed design, text, or ornamentation. |
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| Comments |
The Tesoro de las Islas Filipinas operated as a colonial treasury instrument rather than a central bank, issuing notes under direct Spanish metropolitan authority. By 1877, the Philippines still lacked a chartered bank of issue with meaningful circulation reach outside Manila, making these treasury notes the primary paper medium for larger commercial transactions — though coin remained dominant for ordinary exchange throughout the archipelago.
Locally printed in Manila at a time when most colonial currency of consequence came from European presses, which makes the production origin genuinely notable. Whether this reflects logistical pragmatism or a deliberate assertion of administrative self-sufficiency by the colonial government is not firmly settled in the literature.