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50 Pesos Philippine National Bank
| Issuer | Philippine National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio-printed note with a portrait vignette of General Henry W. Lawton in military uniform at left, his name inscribed below. The centre carries the denomination in large red numerals with a guilloche underprint, flanked by the bank title and promise-to-pay text in bold letterpress. A circular red seal of the Philippine National Bank, dated Manila May 1917, appears at right, with two manuscript signatures of the Cashier and President below centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK CIRCULATING NOTE THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK WILL PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND FIFTY PESOS IN LAWFUL CURRENCY OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS ISSUED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF ACT NUMBER 2612 OF THE PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE AS AMENDED BY ACT 2747 SERIES OF 1920 LAWTON FIFTY PESOS |
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| Comments |
The Philippine National Bank was established in 1916 partly to break Manila's dependence on foreign commercial banks, which had long controlled agricultural credit on the islands. These circulating notes, printed under contract by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, gave the PNB a visible presence in daily commerce that its balance sheet alone could not provide.
The 1920 date places this note squarely in the volatile post-WWI commodity slump that hit Philippine sugar and hemp exports hard — the same downturn that pushed the PNB itself into insolvency by 1921, requiring government intervention to prevent collapse.