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20 Centavos
| Issuer | Philippine National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blue on yellow underprint, with an American bald eagle facing right at centre, wings partially spread, rendered within an oval guilloche frame formed by two intersecting banner scrolls bearing the issuer name and note type. The date MANILA, P.I. NOV 20 1917 appears in the lower portion of the oval, flanked by ornate corner medallions with the denomination numerals 20c. |
| Reverse lettering | PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK TWENTY CENTAVOS EMERGENCY CIRCULATING NOTE MANILA, P.I. NOV 20 1917 20c |
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| Comments |
The Philippine National Bank was established in 1916, partly to loosen American-controlled banking's grip on agricultural credit in the archipelago. These 1917 centavo emergency notes — fractional currency, essentially — were issued because the wartime silver shortage had pushed coins out of circulation, leaving small transactions without a medium. The PNB stepped in where the mint could not.
Printing in Manila rather than through a metropolitan contractor like the American Bank Note Company made these notes relatively crude by contemporary standards. That local production origin is also why surviving examples so frequently show uneven inking and soft impressions at the margins.