Banknotes of the Philippine peso are issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) for circulation in the Philippines. The smallest amount of legal tender in wide circulation is ₱20 and the largest is ₱1000. The front side of each banknote features prominent people along with buildings, and events in the country's history while the reverse side depicts landmarks and animals.
The dimensions of banknotes issued since the US-Philippine administration, 16 x 6.6 cm, has remained the same on all subsequent Philippine peso banknotes (except pre-1958 centavo notes), and was introduced during William Howard Taft's tenure as governor-general of the Philippines. In view of its highly successful run, President Taft then appointed a committee that reported favorably on the advantages and savings from changing the size of United States banknotes to Philippine-size. Since 1928 the sizes of the United States Federal Reserve Notes and Philippine banknotes have therefore been nearly identical.
History
On May 1, 1852, the first commercial bank of the Philippines, El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II issued the following denominations initially 10, 25, 50 and 200 pesos fuertes (strong pesos). They were used until 1896.
First Philippine Republic
The revolutionary republic of Emilio Aguinaldo ordered the issuance of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100-peso banknotes which were signed by Messrs. Pedro A. Paterno, Telesforo Chuidan and Mariano Limjap to avoid counterfeiting. However, only the 1 and 5-peso banknotes have been printed and circulated to some areas by the end of the short-lived First Republic.
American Period
By 1903, the American colonial Insular Government had issued Silver Certificates in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 pesos, backed by silver pesos or U.S. gold dollars at a fixed rate of ₱2/$1. The authorization of the issuance of Philippine Silver Certificates were placed on the notes, "By Authority of an Act of the Congress of the United States of America, approved March 2, 1903." The first shipment of the currency were sent to the Philippines on September 1, 1903, and issued on October of the same year.
In 1905, higher denominations of 20, 50, 100 and 500 pesos were printed. However, amendments were made before the shipment of the notes from the United States to the Philippines to allow gold to be included as a reserve for the Silver Certificates. As the Series of 1905 was printed, but not yet shipped, they were sent to the United States Government Printing Office, and overprinted vertically with, "Subject to the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved June 23, 1906."
In 1908, the El Banco Español Filipino was allowed to print banknotes in the following denominations with text in Spanish: Cinco (5), Diez (10), Veinte (20), Cincuenta (50), Cien (100) and Dos Cientos (200) Pesos. In 1912, the bank was renamed Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and henceforth issued the same banknotes in English.
In 1918, the Silver Certificates were replaced by the Treasury Certificates issued with government-backing of bonds issued by the United States Government in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 Pesos. In 1916, the Philippine National Bank (PNB) was created to administer the state-holding shares and print banknotes without any quota from the Philippine Assembly. They printed banknotes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pesos. During World War I, the PNB issued emergency notes printed on cardboard paper in the following denominations: 10, 20, 50 centavos and 1 peso. Also overprinted BPI Notes in Five, Ten and Twenty Pesos due to the lack of currency.
The Commonwealth of the Philippines issued Treasury Certificates with the seal of the new government but still circulated the BPI and PNB banknotes.
Japanese government-issued Philippine peso
1942 series
1943-1945 series
Banknotes issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
"VICTORY-CBP" banknotes
The banknotes first issued by today's Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (formerly the "Central Bank of the Philippines") were the VICTORY-CBP Overprints in 1949, which were merely overprints of older American-era banknotes. The first official banknote series to be printed were the English Series in 1951.
English Series (1949–1971) The English Series were Philippine banknotes that circulated from 1949 to 1969. It was the only banknote series of the Philippine peso to use English.