In the last history blog about old coins, I featured my 1898 US dollar coin. That coin was minted in the year when the Negrenses, the people of Negros island in the Philippines, successfully revolted against the Spaniards. That successful revolt is being celebrated every November 5 in the province of Negros Occidental as Cinco de Noviembre, a non-working holiday in the whole province.
After that successful revolution in 1898, the local officials of the small settlement of Victorias asked the newly installed government of the Republic Cantonal de Negros that Victorias be named a town and not just a mere barrio, according to the Memoirs of Esteban Jalandoni, the former secretary and mayor of Victorias. Their request was granted. This means that the year "1876" used in the official logo of Victorias City is wrong; it should be "1898". If there was any resolution or decree during the Spanish times that installed Victorias as a town before 1898, it must have been overturned in the years that followed because of the very low income generated by the settlement at Daan Banwa. For settlements that had bigger income and population, they were elevated to the status of a town. If they had poor income, they remained a barrio. This case could have been repeated in 1902 when the provincial officials again wanted to classify Victorias as a barrio, instead of a town because of its low income. But because of the intercession of former Negros Occidental governor, Melecio Severino, it stayed a town (Read Chapter 6 here).
The earliest year that we could deduce from the stories narrated in the Memoirs of Esteban Jalandoni that proved that there was a settlement in Daan Banwa was before 1849 when there was a fatal stabbing incident in the Daan Banwa settlement. The narration of the crime did not include the year it happened. The crime had to be reported to Himamaylan, the capital of Negros Occidental at that time. It was only in 1949 that Bacolod became the provincial capital. The reason why the stabbing incident had to be reported to Himamaylan was because the Daan Banwa village was neither part of Saravia or Manapla. If it were, reporting it to the municipio of either Saravia or Manapla was enough, but since the incident had to be reported to Himamaylan meant that Bacolod was not yet the capital and that this stabbing happened before 1849.
These were specific events in the history of Victorias that came to mind when I held this 1821 coin. I wondered: how many families were already living in 1821 at the mouth of the river we now call Malihaw in an area we now call Daan Banwa? If there were, did these families come from Panay or Bohol, or other parts of the Visayas?
During the Spanish period, the coins used were from Mexico, the reales, and these coins were demoninated in 8-reales. The coins were brought to Las Filipinas via the Galleon Trade that started in 1565 until 1815. The Galleon Trade stopped because Mexico waged war against their Spanish colonizers to gain independence.
When this coin was minted, it was the year when the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico was then called 'New Spain') ended its administration over the Philippines became Mexico achieved its independence from Spain on August 13, 1821. The Viceroyalty's supervision over Las Filipinas started in 1565 when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi started its Spanish colonization. After 1821, the Philippines was governed directly from Spain until 1898, and this coin was used in the Philippines during that time as the currency.
This coin's obverse (front side) features the view from the right side of King Ferdinand VII's face and head with the words "FERDIN VII" for King Ferdinand VII of Spain, and "DEI GRATIA", meaning, 'by the grace of God'. The "1821", the year it was minted, is written below it. King Ferdinand VII reigned twice: in 1808, and 1813 until he died in 1833.
The reverse shows the words "HISPAN ET IND REX", meaning 'Spain and the King of Indies'. It also shows a crown over symbols of crowned lions and castles that are sandwiched by the two columns of Hercules that are wrapped by ribbons. The dollar symbol ($) which has two vertical lines wrapped by ribbons is said to have originated from this symbol.
This coin has some silver content and weights 27 grams. As the Mexican reales coin was widely circulated in Mexico, the Philippines, and other Spanish colonies in the Americas, this coin must have had changed hands thousands of times since 1821. From Hispanic merchants to Chinese traders and to peninsulares, insulares and indios, and even pirates, this coin's history is more interesting than its design and commercial value.
This Mexican reales coin was the last of its kind as this was minted while Mexico was still under Spanish rule. Starting 1822, Mexico minted its own reales as an independent country.
(PHOTOS of the 1821 Mexican reales coin were taken at the Victorias City Hall and Victorias Public Plaza.)
#oldcoins #oldcoinscollection #mexico #mexicanreales #Spanishcoin #Spain #Philippines #numismatics #history #historians #Philippinehistory #coincollecting #VictoriasCity #victoriaslgu #Negros
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