History That You Can Touch: 1898 United States One Dollar Coin

On November 5, 1898, the Negrenses successfully revolted against the Spaniards and set up their own Republica Cantonal de Negros. According to Señor Esteban Jalandoni, our former town secretary and mayor, in the year 1898, the barrio officials of Daan Banwa went to ask the officials of the newly established Negros government for approval that the Daan Banwa settlement be officially declared a town. It was granted.

In 2019, during my early research about the history of Victorias, I noticed that the official seal of Victorias City contained the years "1906" and "1998". The "1998" was correct as this was the year Victorias became a city, but the "1906" was wrong because Victorias was already a town before 1906. I officially informed the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Victorias about this error in November 2022. The official seal was finally corrected a month later, only after I pointed out the error. The error has been sitting there since 1998, until I came along (read blog here). 

If Señor Jalandoni wrote in his memoirs that the Daan Banwa officials had to ask in 1898 the approval from the new Negrense government, this means that Victorias lost its status as a town or municipality if ever it was granted that status before 1898. In his memoirs, he mentioned that the income of the Daan Banwa settlement even in the late 1800s was so small that it was just considered a barrio or another village, and not worthy to be recognized as a town. In 1902, again, it almost lost this status as a municipality because of its poor income (read blog here). So, the correct years that should be seen on the official seal of the city are "1898", the year it was recognized by the Republica Cantonal de Negros, and "1998", the year it became a city.

This coin was minted in the year when the Philippines, along with Cuba, Guam and Puerto Rico, was sold to the United States for US$20 million through the Treaty of Paris, the treaty that ended the war between the United States and Spain. This treaty signalled the end of the Spanish Empire and the birth of the United States as a world power.

This is what is called the Morgan dollar, named after George T. Morgan, the designer and the United States Mint Assistant Engraver. It's made of silver and weighs 26.73 grams. Its diameter is 38.10 millimeters and must have been minted in Philadelphia.

The obverse (main side) shows the profile of Lady Liberty with the words "E PLURIBUS UNUM", the motto of the United States that means "out of many, one". The year "1898" is at the bottom. The model for Lady Liberty was a real person, Anna Willess Williams, who was a teacher and philosopher. She is said to have a Grecian type of nose, which is a prominent feature of the profile in the coin.

The reverse shows "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and just below it are the words "IN GOD WE TRUST". The center shows an eagle with wings spread, and "ONE DOLLAR" is engraved at the bottom.

Also in 1898, Iloilo Province successfully revoted against Spain. On November 17 that year, the first-evr raising of the Philippine flag outside of Luzon happened in Santa Barbara, Iloilo (read blog here).

On to the next coin...😎

(Photos of the 1898 United States One Dollar were taken across and in the Victorias Public Plaza).

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History That You Can Touch: 1944 Philippine Commonwealth Fifty-Centavo Coin

This is just a year older than the first 1945 coin I wrote about in my previous post (read blog here).

As part of America's plan to resurrect the economy of the devastated Philippines after World War II, it minted new coins to be used in the Philippines as the Japanese Imperial Army confiscated all the coins they could get their hands on. The coins they confiscated were brought back to Japan to be melted and used for their own purposes, probably for ammunitions and machinery.

Finally, on October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur landed in Leyte to start the campaign to recapture and liberate the Philippines, which gave everyone hope that this might be the beginning of the end of the war. By the time MacArthur landed in Leyte, the people of Victorias had already suffered for two years and five months in the hands of the Japanese invaders. And although the Japanese Imperial Army arrived in Victorias on May 27, 1942, the first Victoriahanon who died during World War II perished on December 16 or 17, 1942, days after the Japanese attacked the Philippines. Their ship sank in the waters of Manila Bay after it hit a sea mine (read blog here). During the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese took over Victorias Milling Company (VMC) and produced alcohol for the use of their military (read VMC history here).

(The obverse of the 1944 Commonwealth coin)

This coin also contained silver and was minted in San Francisco Mint, while coins using base metals were minted in other mints in the US. Identical with the 1945 coin, the obverse (main face of the coin) features a woman, with her hair flowing with the wind, standing with a hammer on her right hand, while her left hand seems to hold a flower. Before her is an anvil - a block of iron on which you put a metal that you want to flatten or shape into another form. The steaming Mayon Volcano is on her left, and at the bottom is the world "FILIPINAS", which is a carryover of the Spanish influence.

The reverse has "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" written on top with the official coat of arms of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in the middle that included a scroll with the words "Commonwealth of the Philippines". "1945" is written at the bottom.

     (The reverse of the 1944 Commonwealth coin)

Just like most Filipinos, whenever we see the years 1941 up to 1945 in our Philippine History, we all tend to remember with pain the suffering out ancestors endured in the hands of the invaders. This coin is also a real reminder of World War II. Liberation in Victorias came on April 26, 1945, when the first American soldiers arrived in Victorias. This is the reason why April 26 is celebrated as the feast of the Our Lady of Victory in Victorias.

The next coin will be a lot older.

(Photos of the 1944 coin taken at the Victorias Public Plaza).

#worldwarII #oldcoins #1944coins #PhilippineHistory #history #historian #WWII #Commonwealthcoins #numismatics