Owner Comments:
1/2C 1903 USA-PHIL:
Have you ever completed a difficult task and afterwards sat down to survey all the things your hands had done with a sense of pride and accomplishment? The coin featured in the obverse photograph of the owner comments portrays just that, but on a national scale.
For the reverse photograph, I wish to thank user BrokeCoinCollector for allowing me to use the photograph of a 1-peso coin that I formerly owned. I am including this coin together with this set’s featured coin because it helps to tell the whole story of the founding of a strong Philippines.
The Philippines were acquired by the United States in 1899 as part of a treaty with Spain ending the Spanish-American War. In 1901, the military government gave way to a civilian administration with a need for new coinage. Starting in 1903 and minted at Philadelphia and San Francisco, coins for the fledgling Philippine government were issued in denominations of 1 peso, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 1, and ½ centavos, whereas 100 centavos are equivalent to 1 peso. The ½ and 1-centavo coins were struck in bronze, the 5 centavos coin in copper/nickel, the 10, 20, and 50 centavos coins in silver, and finally the 1-peso coin in silver.
The allegory of the seated man surveying the landscape on this coin’s obverse is representative of the People of the Philippines. Just as a blacksmith forges a sword, the anvil the man is leaning against and the hammer he is holding represents the role of the Filipino people in forging their own future.
Just as parents raise a very young child to be independent as an adult, so does the United States to the Philippines. The US territorial coat of arms on the reverse of this coin shows US sovereignty over the Philippines. I believe that it was always the intention of the United States that the Philippines should be free and independent.
The allegory of the standing woman is Lady Liberty and represents the role of the United States in forging a prosperous future for the Philippines. In that both the ½-centavo and the 1-peso use similar imagery suggests a partnership between the Philippines and the United States in forging ahead. Interestingly, all the silver coins feature Lady Liberty and suggests that the United States played the leading role in shaping the future of the Philippines.