Catalog
2 Pesos
| Issuer | Mindanao Emergency Currency Board |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943-1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S506 |
| Obverse description | Plain field dominated by a large circular red seal at left bearing the arms of the Commonwealth of the Philippines with an eagle above a shield, surrounded by the legend of the Commonwealth. Central text block carries the issuing authority, redemption pledge, and denomination in bold letterpress, with a red serial number at right and Series 1944 designation. Three red manuscript signatures of board members appear at the base, identified below as F. D. Pacana (Member), Florentino Saguin (Chairman), and J. Barbasa (Member), within a simple ruled and guilloche border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Unadorned field printed entirely in black letterpress with bilingual text in English and Visayan (Cebuano), the denomination in bold capitals at centre, and a simple dashed and ruled border framing all four sides with numeral 2 at each corner. No vignette or ornamental underprint is present, giving the note a strictly utilitarian wartime character. |
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| Comments |
The Mindanao Emergency Currency Board was one of several provincial and regional bodies that issued guerrilla currency in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. These notes circulated in areas where American-led and Filipino resistance forces maintained administrative control, functioning as a parallel economy to the Japanese-sponsored Mickey Mouse money that officially displaced the Commonwealth peso. Acceptance was partly practical, partly a declaration of loyalty — using guerrilla currency carried real risk if Japanese patrols were encountered.
Mindanao's geography, with its dense interior and multiple active guerrilla commands, made local currency issuance more sustainable there than in most other islands. The three-signature authentication reflects the board structure typical of these emergency authorities, designed to prevent unilateral overprinting.