The Evolution of Philippine Peso Throughout The Years

See this One peso silver coin right here? We only have an ample amount of time to use it. This coin along with the others and its series will be demonetized, but before this ends up in the museum's shelves and also on the collectors booklets, Let's take a look back and think about how Philippine peso has evolved through the course of history. Hi Iam @thonnavares and also a proud Filipino.

Let's talk about Money first

We all know that money in some form has been part of human history in the last 3,000 years. But before that, the system of the action or system of exchanging goods or services without using money or barter were most likely used Since there were no concept about currency or banknotes at that time.

In 600 B.C. Lydia's King named Croesus which was "One Of The Wealthiest Man In The World" came up with the idea of the official currency in the form of coins that is made of Silver and Gold.

Croesus imposed taxes on the fringes of his empire, which was the Lydian"s main source of income. Croesus used the money received from taxes to power his empire"s military while also being a patron of art spending money to reconstruct the Artemis Temple in Ephesus.

The expression, "As rich as Croesus" signifies the economic state Lydia was in during Croesus' rule but also the amount of wealth Croesus possessed himself.

First Currency in the World

This coin also known as a croesid was discovered in Lydia, or modern day Turkey (Asia Minor
Gold coin of croesus

Gold coin of Croesus that was made around 550 BCE in the Lydian Empire.
Around 550 BCE. The gold coin was in minted in Sardis, the capitol of Lydia, and has been attributed to the King of Lydia, Croesus, who is given credit for creating the first coinage. Coins made in Lydia during the 6th century BCE were made of electrum The gold coin was stamped with a lion and a bull facing each other. The coins minted were used for trading and the paying of mercenary fighters in Lydian society. The coin is has a height of 1 cm and a width of 2 cm.

The chinese however turned the Coins into Papermoney with set denomination by 1200 A.D.

Sample Of Europian Coins

While Europian still uses Coins as their currency up until 1600 A.D. due to acquisitions of precious metals from colonies eventually their banks then used banknotes for depositors and borrowers to use and carry around instead of those heavy metal coins.

Sample of a Banknote

These banknotes can be taken at any bank at any time in exchange for their face value in Silver or Gold coins. These paper money can be also used in buying materials and goods and operate just like the currency we are using until this present day.

First Papermoney in Europe

Issued by the Bank of Palmsturch in 1666

It was issued by banks and private institutions and not by the Government, which is now responsible for issuing currency in most places and countries.

Barter In Philippines

Gold, Pearls and Shells

Barter has been a part of Philippine History. Filipinos used to trade goods like Gold, Pearls and Shells in exchange for China's famous Porcelain and Silk.

Spanish Colonization Effect

Until the Spanish Colonial period came then influenced Philippine coin as well. They then introduced this irregularly shaped cobs called as "macuquina" and then different coins pops up to the country and joined their way to the "Galleon Trade"

Galleon Trade

The Galleon Trade

When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our ancestors were already trading. A Spanish Galleon with China, Japan, Siam, India, Cambodia, Borneo and the Moluccas. The Spanish government continued trade relations with these countries, and the Manila became the center of commerce in the East. The Spaniards closed the ports of Manila to all countries except Mexico. Thus, the Manila–Acapulco Trade, better known as the "Galleon Trade" was born. The Galleon Trade was a government monopoly. Only two galleons were used: One sailed from Acapulco to Manila with some 500,000 pesos worth of goods, spending 120 days at sea; the other sailed from Manila to Acapulco with some 250,000 pesos worth of goods spending 90 days at sea.

It also allowed modern, liberal ideas to enter the country, eventually inspiring the movement for independence from Spain. And because the Spaniards were so engrossed in making profits from the Galleon Trade, they hardly had any time to further exploit our natural resources.

But when the Mexico emancipated self from Spain in the 1800's, Spain was afraid that the Philippines would do the same so the thing they did was they counter-stabbed our coins until we finally developed our own currency.

First Philippine Currency

Philippines self found currency

The Barilya which we now called the Barya which was born on 1828. It is marked with coat of arms of the Municipality of Manila. The first barilya are made of coarse brass and have an estimated value equivalent to one cent. The cabins are also thin and light compared to the current coins.

As for the Paper money we were authorized by Spain to print out our own money which was called the Peso Fuerte or Strong Peso when translated to English.

10 years later the First Mint was Established and the rest was History.

But the Philippine was not the only one who used the Peso currency, as other country such as Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina have the same idea.

American Period

United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Constitution of the Philippines, as permitted by the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934.

As the American can on 1903, They established the standard in using symobols for the Philippine Currency.

The Philippine Currency Symbol

The symbol of a letter "P" with two horizontal lines from the upper curve and one at the lower curve.
The currency exchange by that time was 2 peso is to 1 Dollar.

What are the factors that dictates the currency value in Philippine Peso?

As we all know that Philippines have been colonized by Many huge Countries such as Spain then the American followed by the Japanese Period. By the time the Japanese Colonized the Philippines they introduced their own currency but they produced so much without a backing because when you produce a currency you have to back it up like Gold or silver.

The Japanese keeps on producing money without a stop and that is one huge factor because there is already a huge huge amount of inflation rate that is why Filipinos named it as the "Mickeymouse Money" because it had hardly any value on it and it is just like a play money.

So its like buying a candy for 200 pesos or an egg for 500 pesos , so you can see that there is like no value on it.

Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP)

The Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) was established on 1949, they decided to continue what was already established as their series and continue producing their own afterwards.

Significant Incidents That Affected The Philippine Peso

1. OIL EMBARGO (1973)
   

During the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an embargo against the United States in retaliation for the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military and to gain leverage in the post-war peace negotiations. Arab OPEC members also extended the embargo to other countries that supported Israel including the Netherlands, Portugal, and South Africa. The embargo both banned petroleum exports to the targeted nations and introduced cuts in oil production. Several years of negotiations between oil-producing nations and oil companies had already destabilized a decades-old pricing system, which exacerbated the embargo’s effects.

This incident cause a major Inflation which made the Peso further and further away from the dollar. The conversion was 25 peso to 1 dollar.

1. ECONOMIC CRISIS (1990)

Throughout 1989 and 1990, the economy was weakening as a result of restrictive monetary policy enacted by the Federal Reserve. At the time, the stated policy of the Fed was to reduce inflation, a process which limited economic expansion. Another factor that may have contributed to the weakening of the economy, was the passing of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 which led to the end of the real estate boom of the early to mid-1980's resulting in sinking property values, lowered investment incentives, and job loss. Measurable changes in GDP growth began to emerge in the first quarter of 1990, however, overall growth remained positive. The immediate cause of the recession was a loss of consumer and business confidence as a result of the 1990 oil price shock, coupled with an already weak economy.

July 1990 marked the end of what was at the time the longest peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history. Prior to the onset of the early 1990s recession, the nation enjoyed robust job growth and a declining unemployment rate. The Labor Department estimates that as a result of the recession, the economy shed 1.623 million jobs or 1.3% of non-farm payrolls. The bulk of these losses were in construction and manufacturing. Among the hardest hit regions were the New England states and the west coast, while the Midwest and south central were less affected.

The Economic Crisis in the 1990 that drastically changed the value from 50 peso to a dollar.

Philippine Banknote

As for how are banknotes evolves in terms of the design, We have seen Spanish Royalties up to the American President design. But the Philippine Peso took a path on choosing a more Patriotic look in the late 1960's when they started to feature our local, loyal and brave Philippine hero Dr. Jose Rizal who fought against the Spain using a Pen and landscapes

Recent Banknotes 2000's

Recently our notes shows everything about the culture and places of the Philippines, highlighting the ideals that we want to feature.

Recently The 500 peso changed its design.
FROM
TO

The Old design which is only Senator Ninoy Aquino is changed to the New one commemorate The First Lady President Of the Philippines "Corazon Cojuangco Aquino" which is her beloved wife.

Improvements on Philippine Currency

While the design speaks for history the security measures are also added to its features. It is made of the cotton and abacca tells us that we are still faced by challenging times on the safety front as counterfeiters or scammers are presently prevalent.

According the the Spokesperson of the BSP that it is wise to change the banknotes every 7 to 8 years as counterfeiters can catch up to the technology used in the printing.

My Opinion

The older design will be demonetized and out of circulation really soon so that it will be wise to exchange it to the bank directly before it turns into a "mickeymouse money" , But to some collectors it is also an investment to keep some of these by their side and wait until time passes by. Once you take out the old design that we have circulating right now of course that becomes harder to get so then it will increase in value. For one thing it shows our history and then also the ideals of the country and it actually records the history through money and also how Philippines view as a nation and how we the filipinos show our culture also.
While changing the design of this currency inevitable in nature, It is also nice to show our country's history.

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I hope you learned something today!
Zye Kryll @thonnavares

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