Owner Comments:
In 1904, resistance to the new Philippine currency was still ongoing, even with the import ban of Mexican dollars and other foreign currencies in effect since October of 1903. But another law was passed by the American government in the Philippines in January 1904 that added more teeth to the previous law. This law, which took effect at the end of the year, penalized anyone who did not use Philippine coinage by imposing a heavy tax on the use of old currency. The combination of the two laws finally broke the resistance against the new coins, and "by 1905 the old currency had practically been eliminated from circulation" (Wolters, 2001, p. 533).
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This is a nice frosty and lustrous coin. It has a typical strike for the grade, and barring some minor spots, it is quite attractive with nice eye appeal.
⚙️ Coin Specifications and Information
Composition: Silver
Fineness: 0.9000
Weight: 26.9500g
ASW: 0.7800oz
Diameter: 38mm
Edge: Reeded
Alignment: ⬆️ ⬇️
Mintage: 6,600,000
KM# 168
📆 This Year In Philippine-related History
On April 30 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (also known as the St. Louis World's Fair) opened in St. Louis, Missouri. Among the exhibits was the Philippine Exposition--the grandest and most popular at the entire fair. Totaling $1.1 million to create and operate, it was the most expensive of all exhibits.
The international exposition, which went on until December 1st, celebrated the centennial of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, and was attended by nearly 19.7 million people. Exhibits were staged by approximately 50 foreign nations, the United States government, and 43 of the then-45 U.S. states. These featured industries, cities, private organizations and corporations, theater troupes, and music schools. There were also over 50 concession-type amusements providing educational and scientific displays, exhibits and imaginary 'travel' to distant lands, history, and pure entertainment.
Imaginary "travel' to distant lands included one of the United States’ newly acquired territories, the Philippine Islands. The Philippine Expo was the largest, covering 47 acres filled with 100 buildings. It was part trade show, part cultural exhibit, where "thousands of examples of crops, tropical woods, and other goods were exhibited in addition to Philippine ethnic communities" (Kennedy, 1998, p. 42).
To show the Filipinos at their various cultural stages, ethnic tribal villages were built around a cityscape—a replica of Manila's walled city of Intramuros and a central plaza surrounded by copies of official buildings. The Manila area, along with model schools, bands, and police drill teams, was a way to represent the most "civilized" aspects of Philippine society, in stark contrast to the “primitive” setting of the tribal villages (p. 42).
Also in the plaza, the education pavilion presented the educational activities of American teachers. Nearby were the parade grounds and bandstand in which the more than 400 members of the Philippine constabulary paraded, drilled, and were housed. These troops were also brought to police the site (Kennedy, p.43).
Organizers choreographed ethnographic displays, having customs which marked special occasions restaged day after day. "Singers, dancers, and musicians performed regularly on stages from 11 A.M. to 6 P.M., and craftspeople such as pina (pineapple fiber) weavers and basket makers demonstrated their skills" (Kennedy, pp. 43-44).
Around one thousand Filipinos were brought from the Philippines to be on "display" at the fair. These included some 300 ethnic Filipino people from various regions around the territory. Among the most popular of these groups were the Igorots, an indigenous people of the Cordillera Mountain Range of northern Luzon. An Igorot Village was constructed and became one of the most popular of the exhibits.
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đź“– Information sources:
Wolters, W. G. (2001). Flooded with foreign coins. Spanish and American administrators dealing with currency. Problems in the Philippines, 1890-1905, Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 157(3), 511-538. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-90003800
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. For more information see
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Wikipedia contributors. (2020, June 2). Sheldon coin grading scale. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:30, September 5, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sheldon_coin_grading_scale&oldid=960391269
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Wikipedia contributors. (2021, October 19). Louisiana Purchase Exposition. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:20, October 19, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Louisiana_Purchase_Exposition&oldid=1050731702
Kennedy, Richard (1998). "Rethinking the Philippine Exhibit at the 1904 St. Louis World's fair". Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved October 19, 2021 from https://folklife-media.si.edu/docs/festival/program-book-articles/FESTBK1998_14.pdf
Wikipedia contributors. (2021, October 19). Igorot people. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:20, October 19, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Igorot_people&oldid=1050741294