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50 Centavos
| Issuer | Philippines Commonwealth Bureau of Health - Culion Leper Colony (Palawan) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| 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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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S311 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | This Certifies That The !50¢! PHILIPPINES COMMONWEALTH !50¢! BUREAU OF HEALTH 1942 CULION LEPER COLONY 1942 Is Obligated to Pay the Bearer ::::-FIFTY-CENTAVOS-:::: In Legal Tender Currency Disb. Off., C.L.C. Actg. Chief, C.L.C. Chairman, E.C.C. |
| Reverse description | The reverse is largely plain, printed on light pinkish-buff paper, bearing a three-line rubber-stamped or typeset inscription in the upper portion. The text identifies the issuing authority in a mixed typeface, with the top line in block capitals and the lower two lines in Gothic blackletter script. |
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| Comments |
Culion Island in Palawan housed one of the largest leprosaria in the world, and its internal currency existed specifically to prevent colony scrip from circulating on the mainland — a public health measure as much as a monetary one. The colony's notes were valid only within the settlement's perimeter, and patients received wages in this scrip for whatever labor they performed inside.
The 1942 date places this issue under Japanese occupation, when the colony's administrative situation was acutely precarious. Whether this particular printing was authorized under Commonwealth authority in exile or under Japanese-period administration is a question the catalog record alone cannot settle cleanly.