Catalog
200 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Español Filipino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Uniface note with an elaborate engraved border of guilloche scrollwork framing the entire design. The bank arms appear within a central oval vignette at top centre, flanked by two denomination panels reading "PF 200" at upper left and right. Two serial number fields are positioned below, with the main text block occupying the centre of the note. Three signature lines at lower centre are designated "El Director", "El Tenedor de libros", and "El Cajero". The word "SPECIMEN" is perforated across the lower central area. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO ESPAÑOL FILIPINO á la presentacion de este billete pagará al portador DOSCIENTOS pesos fuertes. 1o Enero 1883. Manila. 1o Enero 1883. El Director. El Tenedor de libros. El Cajero. SPECIMEN (Translation: The Spanish-Filipino Bank upon presentation of this bill will pay the bearer Two hundred hard pesos. 1st January 1883. Manila.) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Español Filipino was the only bank of issue in the Philippines throughout the Spanish colonial period, holding that monopoly from its founding in 1851 until American reorganization ended it. By 1883, the bank was operating under renewed pressure from the colonial treasury, which periodically raided its reserve holdings to cover Manila's chronic fiscal shortfalls.
A 200 Peso denomination at this date was a very large instrument — not retail currency in any practical sense, but a commercial and interbank settlement tool. Few would have been issued in any given year, and survival rates for high-denomination Philippine notes from this period are extremely low, compounded by the destruction wrought during the 1945 Battle of Manila.