Catalog
20 Centavos
| Issuer | Philippine National Bank, Iloilo City |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in the same single red-orange tone as the face, the reverse carries a central circular overprint reading 'EMERGENCY CIRCULATING NOTE OF 1941, ILOILO CURRENCY COMMITTEE, ISSUED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES' surrounding an inner text panel. 'PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK' and 'TWENTY CENTAVOS' are printed in bold letterpress at the upper centre, while 'ILOILO CITY, PHILIPPINES' and the date 'DECEMBER 30, 1941' appear at the foot. Corner numeral '20' vignettes and vertical 'CENTAVOS' panels repeat the pattern established on the obverse. |
| Reverse lettering | CENTAVOS 20 PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK TWENTY CENTAVOS EMERGENCY CIRCULATING NOTE OF 1941 ILOILO CURRENCY COMMITTEE ISSUED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES ILOILO CITY, PHILIPPINES DECEMBER 30, 1941 |
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| Comments |
The Philippine National Bank's provincial emergency notes of 1941 are among the more historically charged pieces in Philippine paper money. Issued from the Iloilo City branch just months before the Japanese invasion of December 1941, these circulated during the immediate pre-occupation period when the colonial banking system was rapidly losing its footing. The PNB authorized several regional branches to issue fractional emergency currency that year, partly to address chronic small-denomination shortages exacerbated by wartime hoarding of coins.
Iloilo branch notes are scarcer than those from Manila. Many were destroyed, either during the Japanese advance or in deliberate denial operations intended to keep currency out of occupying hands.