DID YOU KNOW…
…that even before the establishment of formal banking in the Philippine Islands during Spanish times, there was
already an abundance of Mexican and other Latin American coins circulating in the Philippines?
.
…that such abundance of coins was a result of heavy importation of goods from Mexico?
.
…that most of these were so-called "rebel coins" because they were minted in countries that had rebelled
against Spain?
.
…that in order to legalize the circulation of these coins, the Spanish captain-general in the Philippines issued a
decree in 1828 requiring the countermarking of the coins with the inscription "MANILA" on the obverse side?
.
…that when the independent Latin American countries gained the recognition of Spain, the practice of countermarking
was discontinued in the Philippine Islands starting in 1837?