Catalog
500 Pesos Philippines
| Issuer | Treasury of the Philippines |
|---|---|
| Year | 1936 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Pesos |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BY AUTHORITY OF AN ACT OF THE PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE APPROVED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 1922 THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAS BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY OF THE PHILIPPINES 500 PESOS PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND IN SILVER PESOS OR IN LEGAL TENDER CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF EQUIVALENT VALUE PHILIPPINES FIVE HUNDRED PESOS TREASURY CERTIFICATE |
| Reverse description | Intricate purple guilloche design with the denomination '500' repeated at each corner and ornate geometric lathe-work patterns filling the central field, typical of intaglio-printed Treasury certificates of the Commonwealth period. |
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| Comments |
The Philippine Treasury Certificates of this series were printed in Washington under a colonial fiscal arrangement that required Manila to rely entirely on U.S. federal printing infrastructure — the Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced Philippine currency alongside U.S. federal issues as a matter of course during the Commonwealth period. The 500 Peso denomination was never intended for ordinary commerce; it functioned primarily in interbank settlement and large government transactions.
Most of the 1936 high-denomination stock was destroyed during or immediately after the Japanese occupation, either in the wartime bonfires ordered by retreating American and Filipino forces in 1941–42 or in postwar demonetization. Survivors at this denomination are rare for precisely that reason.