Catalog
2 Pesos
| Issuer | Philippine National Bank, Iloilo City |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S306 |
| Obverse description | Light blue guilloche underprint across the entire face, with the central vignette bearing a large circular seal of the Philippine National Bank flanked by the denomination TWO PESOS in bold intaglio lettering. Serial number and series letter appear at left and right. The upper border carries the heading PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK / EMERGENCY CIRCULATING NOTE OF 1941 / ISSUED BY AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES, with the promise text WILL PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND arched across the centre. The lower portion reads IN LAWFUL CURRENCY OF THE PHILIPPINES / ILOILO CURRENCY COMMITTEE, with three manuscript signatures of committee members. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK EMERGENCY CIRCULATING NOTE OF 1941 ISSUED BY AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK WILL PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND TWO PESOS IN LAWFUL CURRENCY OF THE PHILIPPINES ILOILO CURRENCY COMMITTEE PESOS |
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| Comments |
The Philippine National Bank's regional emergency notes issued from Iloilo City in 1941 represent one of the more administratively fragmented episodes in Philippine currency history. As Japanese forces advanced through the archipelago following December 1941, provincial branches were authorized to issue their own emergency currency rather than allow cash reserves to fall into enemy hands — a decision made at the branch level, not Manila.
The Iloilo branch issues are distinguishable from contemporaneous Visayan emergency notes by their specific authorization signatures. Survivors are genuinely scarce; the combination of wartime destruction, deliberate burning of reserves, and the general chaos of the Japanese occupation saw most of this paper eliminated before 1942 was out.