Catalog
1 Peso Conant, Blue seal
| Issuer | Philippine National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio-printed in black on white paper with a yellow-orange underprint numeral '1' at centre, the obverse carries a portrait vignette of Charles A. Conant at lower left within an ornate engraved frame, flanked by guilloche panels bearing the denomination numeral '1' at each outer margin. The circular blue seal of the Philippine National Bank appears at right, with two manuscript signature lines below for the Cashier and President. Issuer name, bearer clause, and legislative authorization text are rendered in bold letterpress, with the series year at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Engraved entirely in green ink, the reverse is dominated by a central text panel bearing the denomination and issuer title in large serif lettering, enclosed within an elaborate guilloche border with foliate cornerpieces and ornamental scrollwork at top and bottom. Numeral '1' vignettes occupy each of the four corners within the border frame. A boxed legend at lower centre carries the receivability and tax-exemption clause in fine print. |
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| Comments |
The Conant designation honours Charles A. Conant, the American financial adviser who restructured the Philippine monetary system following the 1903 Currency Act — the legislation that pegged the peso to the US dollar at exactly two to one and replaced the unwieldy silver certificates that had preceded it. Philippine National Bank notes of this period were effectively instruments of colonial fiscal management, used in part to finance wartime infrastructure and sugar crop loans during a significant expansion of PNB's agricultural lending.
The blue treasury seal distinguishes this issue from the red-seal series. Both were printed in Washington, making the Philippines unusual among US-administered territories in having its currency produced entirely by the BEP rather than any local authority.