Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Currency of the Philippine Islands

1902; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 20; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/000271620202000303

1552-3349

Charles A. Conant,

Economic Zones and Regional Development

The American Government found in the Philippine Islands upon their cession by Spain a condition as chaotic in monetary affairs as in civil administration.The Philippines were upon the'silver standard, but they had little coinage of their own, either legal tender or subsidiary.The supply of legal tender money consisted chiefly of Mexican silver dollars.The Spanish Government, in order to limit the fluctuations of exchange, had in 1877 prohibited the im- portation of any Mexican dollars which were issued after that date.This provision was, however, so persistently evaded that it exercised little influence upon the monetary system of the islands.Gold disappeared under the pressure of depreciated silver and after 1884 practically none remained in circulation.An effort had been made by the Spanish Government to provide a local currency, but the project had been only partially car- ried out.This project consisted of the coinage of a few Spanish- Filipino pesos and their subdivisions, supplemented in a small way by the Spanish subsidiary coin.The pesos were lighter than the Mexican coins, but as their quantity was not more than sufficient to supply the currency needed in the islands, the pesos circulated at par with the &dquo;Mexicans.&dquo;It was fortunate for .theislands that these coins, by reason of their light weight, were not exportable to advantage as bullion and, therefore, remained in circulation when other forms of money tended to disappear.A few subsidiary pieces corresponding to the silver pesos had been coined by the Spanish Government exclusively for use in the Philippines.The other subsidiary pieces, however, and most of the minor coins, were the same as those used in Spain.The peseta piece of Spain, worth nearly twenty cents in American money, was at one time maintained at this value in Spain and even when-Spanish finances became deranged did not decline in its exchange value in gold so rapidly as the Mexican silver dollar.The consequence was to destroy the relationship between the Mexican dollar and the sub- sidiary coins.The Spanish peseta came to be worth about fifteen cents in gold in Spain, while as a quotient part of the Mexican peso it would pass for perhaps ten cents or less in gold value at