500 Piso Emilio Aguinaldo

Issued to mark the centennial of Philippine independence, declared by Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898 at Kawit, Cavite. Aguinaldo had purchased Spanish arms with $400,000 in gold from the colonial treasury as part of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, returned from exile in Hong Kong aboard a U.S. Navy vessel, and declared independence within months — only to find the Treaty of Paris had transferred sovereignty to the United States without Filipino consent for $20 million.

The centennial program produced multiple commemorative denominations. This 500-piso piece is the principal silver issue of that series.