Owner Comments:
This is the first business strike peso coin of the Republic. It was designed by Frank Gasparro, the U.S. Mint's then-Chief Coin Designer and Engraver. His initials are on the neck of the bust on the obverse. This coin was minted at the U.S. Mint's Denver facility.
The obverse features the bust of Dr. Jose Rizal, a Filipino nationalist during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines. It also has the coin’s denomination, “Piso.”
The reverse bears Country’s name, the mintage year, and the issuing bank. It also has the country’s coat of arms, which feature the eight-rayed sun of the Philippines with each ray representing the eight provinces which were placed under martial law during the Philippine Revolution (1896-1898.) The three five-pointed stars represent the country's primary geographic regions (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.) On the dexter (left) side of the shield is the North American bald eagle of the United States, its left talon grasping an olive branch and the right talon grasping three spears, denoting peace and war. On the sinister (right) side is the lion rampant of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of León (part of a united Spain from 1479). Both the eagle and the lion represent the country's colonial past. Beneath the shield is a scroll with the inscription in Filipno, "Republika Ng Pilipinas."
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This coin good overall average luster and an even strike. Small contact marks are scattered on the obverse and reverse. Overall, this coin is attractive with pleasing eye appeal for the grade. This type of coin is widely available and fairly priced. I acquired this coin already slabbed.
⚙️ Coin Specifications and Information
Composition: Copper-Nickel-Zinc
Weight: 15.0000g
Diameter: 33mm
Edge: Reeded
Alignment: ⬆️ ⬇️
Mintage: 150,000,000*
KM# 203
*121,821,000 struck in 1972 plus an additional 28,179,000 struck in Jan-Mar of 1973 (all coins have 1972 as the date).
📆 This Year in Philippine History
On September 21, 1972 President Ferdinand E. Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law, suspending the civil rights and imposing military authority. Congress was also abolished.
September 21 is the official date of the declaration but was formally announced live on TV and radio on September 23. At 7:17 pm, President Ferdinand Marcos announced that he had placed the entirety of the Philippines under martial law. This marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule that would effectively last until Marcos was exiled from the country on February 25, 1986. Even though the formal document proclaiming martial law – Proclamation No. 1081, which was dated September 21, 1972 – was formally lifted on January 17, 1981, Marcos retained essentially all of his powers as dictator until he was ousted.
When he declared martial law in 1972, Marcos claimed that he had done so in response to the "communist threat" posed by the newly founded Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the sectarian "rebellion" of the Mindanao Independence Movement (MIM). Opposition figures of the time, such as Lorenzo Tañada, Jose W. Diokno, and Jovito Salonga, accused Marcos of exaggerating these threats, using them as a convenient excuse to consolidate power and extend his tenure beyond the two presidential terms allowed by the 1935 constitution.
Numerous explanations have been put forward as reasons for Marcos to declare martial law, some of which were presented by the Marcos administration as official justifications, and some of which were dissenting perspectives put forward by either the mainstream political opposition or by analysts studying the political economy of the decision.
In his 1987 treatise, "Dictatorship & Martial Law: Philippine Authoritarianism in 1972", University of the Philippines Public Administration Professor Alex Brillantes Jr. identifies three reasons expressed by the Marcos administration, saying that martial law:
1. was a response to various leftist and rightist plots against the Marcos administration;
2. was just the consequence of political decay after American-style democracy failed to take root in Philippine society; and
3. was a reflection of Filipino society's history of authoritarianism and supposed need for iron-fisted leadership.
The first two justifications were explicitly stated in the proclamation, which cited two explicit justifications: "to save the republic" (from various plots); and "to reform society" (after the failure of American-style democracy). The third rationalization arose from the administration's propaganda, which portrayed Ferdinand Marcos as a hypermasculine figure able to compel the obedience of supposedly "spoiled" Filipinos.
Opposition to Marcos' declaration of martial law ran the whole gamut of Philippine society - ranging from impoverished peasants whom the administration tried to chase out of their homes; to the Philippines' political old-guard, whom Marcos had tried to displace from power; to academics and economists who disagreed with the specifics of Marcos' martial law policies. All of these, regardless of their social position or policy beliefs, subscribed to the interpretation that Marcos declared martial law:
1. as a strategy to enable Ferdinand Marcos to stay in power past the two Presidential terms allowed him under Philippine Constitution of 1935
2. as a technique for covering up the ill-gotten wealth of Marcos, his family, and his cronies.
In addition, some critics who ascribe an economic component to Marcos' motivations, suggesting that martial law:
1. was an acquiescence to the global market system, which required tight control of sociopolitical systems so that the country's resources could be exploited efficiently;
2. was a product of the infighting among the families that formed the upper socioeconomic class of Philippine society; and
3. was a connivance between the state powers and the upper-class families to keep the members of the country's lower classes from becoming too powerful.
President Marcos formally lifted Martial Law on January 17, 1981, several weeks before the first pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to the Philippines. Experts concluded that the dictatorship was still in effect despite the formal announcement, until the organized EDSA Revolution of 1986 forced the Marcoses out of Malacañang Palace.
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📖 Information sources:
Wikipedia contributors. (2021, November 28). Sheldon coin grading scale. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:35, November 30, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sheldon_coin_grading_scale&oldid=1057517579
NGC, World Coin Price Guide, Philippines Coin Price Guide (Powered by NumisMaster), Retrieved 10:05, November 30, 2020, from https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/philippines-piso-km-203-1972-1974-cuid-1112364-duid-1519618
Numista Coin Catalog. Coins from Philippines. Retrieved 10:15, November 30, 2021, from https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces3749.html
Today in Philippine History, September 21, 1972. Retrieved 18:14, October 16, 2022, from
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/627/today-in-philippine-history-on-september-21-1972-president-ferdinand-e-marcos-placed-the-philippines-under-martial-law
Wikipedia contributors. (2022, October 15). Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:32, October 16, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martial_law_under_Ferdinand_Marcos&oldid=1116279721
Wikipedia contributors. (2022, October 4). Proclamation No. 1081. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:44, October 16, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Proclamation_No._1081&oldid=1114046412