You probably know Spain ruled the Philippines from the time Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Islands on March 16, 1521 until it became a United States possession and you probably have a tinge of knowledge about its counterstruck/counterstamped " necessity coins: Well this trivia (I hope) will reveal more data on those counterstruck/counterstamped necessity coins of the Philippines. As a Spanish colony, Spanish coins from Spain and the Americas were the coinage of the realm for the Philippines. In the early 1800s, as the voices of freedom reverberated through the colonies of the Americas, changes had to be made in the Philippines. The republican coinages of Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru, became the commonly used coins of the Philippines. This new situation was a severe concern to Spain. With the loss of American lands, she was even more determined to retain this lucrative possession. Acceptance of this coinage would seem to imply an acknowledgement of legitimacy towards revolution. Or worse yet, the local authorities feared that exposure to so many objects bearing such seditious sentiments as "Liberty," or "For Virtue and Justice," might inflame the passions of rebellion among the natives of the Philippines. Thus Spanish officials decided that the legends and types of this imported currency should be obliterated by overstamping. A decree to the effect, on October 13, 1828, by the Captain-General of the Philippines ordered such monies to be overstruck with the arms of Spain, along with the legend: "Habilitado por el Rey N.S.D.Fern.VII" (Rehabilatated by the King, our Lord, Don Fernando VII). Reverses would be stamped with "Manila" and the date. Here's photos (courtesy Coin Archives) of three of those counterstruck coins: This first example is the 183O countermark on a Bolivia 8 Soles Ferdinand VII: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=464768&AucID=344&Lot=3061 This next example dates back to 1828 the year the decree was enacted. The counterstrike is on an 1826 JM Lima, Peru Mint 8 Reales: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=524527&AucID=380&Lot=2111 This last example is dated 1828 and was counterstruck on an 1828 JM Peru 8 Reales: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=464768&AucID=344&Lot=3061 More changes were coming. The experiment, lasting from 1828-1830, proved to be mostly a failure. The overstamping never wholly erased the undertype, plus the procedure was found to be damaging to the mint machinery. In 1832, the program was re-instituted by employing different, much smaller counterstamps. Ferdinand's stamp was reduced to an incused circle bearing a crown above F. 7. degree sign. Here's five examples of the smaller Ferdinand stamp: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450641&AucID=337&Lot=1656 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450643&AucID=337&Lot=1658 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450646&AucID=337&Lot=1661 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450647&AucID=337&Lot=1662 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450648&AucID=337&Lot=1663 Since Isabel II ascended to the Spanish Throne in 1833 a new die was created. That die is also a circlular incuse featuring a crown above Y II symbolizing Isabel II. Here's an example with die being struck on an 1824 Mo JM Mexican 8 Reales: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=524529&AucID=380&Lot=2113 Following are three more examples: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450649&AucID=337&Lot=1664 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450655&AucID=337&Lot=1670 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=450659&AucID=337&Lot=1674 Counterstamping was halted by decree in 1837, when Spain finally acknowledged the independence of her former colonies. Of all the counterstamped coins of the Philippines, those bearing the Manila types are the rarest, with those dated 1830 being extremely rare. Did you enjoy this trivia? Clinker
Wonderful! Great article. I am impressed with how Spain thought they could change the minds of the people with simple stamps on coins. Though I do believe that coinage was used for that to some degree. Regards, S
Thanks to Parklane64, kidromeo and coinman1974 for yourt comments. Kidromeo: I'll check into the links. Clinker
Great trivia! I'm late to this thread... but here goes The coins were also known as the "resellados". While the matter of sovereign dignity certainly helped impel the decision to alter foreign coins, there was also the matter of generating some revenue.* The Philippines were partly subsidized by Nueva España, and when the latter won their independence, Spain's Asian archipelago was cut off not only from a source of coin, but a source of government funds. This annual fund is generalized as the "situado", tied to the almojarifazgo (customs duties) collected at Acapulco on the galleon cargo farriving from Manila....but I digress... bottom line is that Manila.gov needed to find new revenue streams. Philippine Governor-General Mariano Ricafort y Palacin in October 1828 opened an "Oficina de Resello", (Office of counterstamping) to mark and revalidate all foreign coin, for a 1% fee. Of course, he also decreed all foreign coin verboten from commerce, save those that had been restamped by said office. The Trading Houses across the Pacific were still plying the old galleon route, and had no choice but to comply. The bronze restamping press was weak and broke down pretty quickly, January of 1829. The fee was raised to 2% to cover losses, but when a steel press was imported from India, the Oficina (idiotically) thought they could dispense with annealling the coins first, and so the steel press broke down too (1831). That is when the Philippines shifted to using small punches bearing a royal monogam to validate foreign coins for local use. Queen Isabel II (or rather, the Queen mother, since Isabel was still a child) declared recognition for the sovereignties of Spain's former American territories in early 1836, and the Philippines officially abandoned countermarking in March of 1837, although traders fearful that consumers were ignorant of this relaxation continued to request counterstamping (which the government was happy to profit from) up to 1839. The program was an outright failure, and the failure discouraged any approval from Spain for the creation of a badly needed mint in Manila (remember, the Philippines no longer had a source of proper colonial coin, since the 1810's!), for yet another 20 years. Hey, it's a slow day here. h. * Fears of foreign coin legends inspiring Filipinos to rebel seem to have been grossly inflated. The Philippines had a reputation for sticking loyally with Spain while other colonies broke away. It was only when Spain unfairly revoked Philippine representation in Spanish Parliament (taxation without representation: familiar, no?) in the very late 1800's, that many Filipinos decided they were better off independent. Unfortunately the United States of America disagreed, but that's a whole other story, and a whole different mess o' coins... LOL.
To horhe Forgibe me for hitting the "h" key insyead of the "g" key, Thanks for the addendum, horge. Good to hear from you! C;inker
