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500 Pesos Treasury Certificate, Purple back
| Issuer | Treasury of the Philippine Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Printer | Bureau of Engraving and Printing, United States (1862-date) |
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| Obverse description | Central intaglio portrait vignette of Miguel de Legazpi, the Spanish conquistador, shown in three-quarter bust wearing a wide-brimmed hat, set against an orange-red guilloche underprint, with elaborate scrollwork border ornaments at left and right. Denomination numeral '500' appears at lower left and upper corners, with the title 'PHILIPPINE ISLANDS' in large letters across the upper portion and a circular blue seal of the Government of the Philippine Islands and the United States of America at the lower right. Two manuscript signatures appear at the lower left, identified as Governor General and Treasurer. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | TREASURY CERTIFICATE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS FIVE HUNDRED PESOS 500 |
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| Comments |
Treasury Certificates were a distinctly Philippine instrument — not legal tender in the United States, and not backed by the standard Philippine peso silver coinage alone. The 1918 series was issued under American colonial administration, with Francis Burton Harrison serving as Governor-General at the time of signing. Harrison was notably sympathetic to Philippine autonomy and pushed hard for Filipinization of the civil service; his signature on this note places it squarely in that transitional period before the Jones Act reforms took full effect.
The 500-peso denomination would have seen almost no ordinary commerce. At 1918 wage levels in the Philippines, this was several years' income for a laborer — interbank transfers and large commercial settlements being its natural domain.