What do you think is the first Philippine Commemorative Coins?
When you check the "Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas" website, You will see that the first listed commemorative coin is the 1947 Douglas MacArthur One Peso and Fifty Centavos silver coins, minted when the Philippines was fully independent. But there was a set of commemorative coins minted before 1947.
To commemorate the formation of the "Commonwealth of the Philippines " on November 15, 1935. A Filipino artist and engraver "Ambrosio Morales" designed a set of commemorative coins.
The Commonwealth Commemorative set contains three silver coins, two One Peso coins, and a 50 Centavos coin. On the obverse of these coins are the conjugate busts of President Roosevelt and Quezon, Governor-General Murphy, and President Quezon.
One Peso Roosevelt and Quezon facing left
One Peso Murphy and Quezon facing left
50 Centavos Murphy and Quezon facing each other
1936 Commonwealth of the Philippines Commemorative Coins
The reverse of the coins shows the coat arms of the Philippine Commonwealth.
Here are the three things I learned about the Commonwealth of the Philippines Commemorative Coins from the book U.S.P.I Philippine Coinage Under American Sovereignty by Eldrich Yap and Janssen Bantugan:
1. "Thousands of one peso coins from 1903 to 1912 were melted and recycled to mint the 1936 Philippine Commonwealth Commemorative Set."
They recycled a lot of One Peso USPI coins. So that means the mintage of the One Peso USPI coins got reduced, especially the 1906 One Peso.
2. "The artist put a native touch on the design of the coins."
I was not aware of this before. If you notice the circular design before the rim, this represents an interlocking bamboo. Bamboo is a plant/tree common in the Philippines. I thought they were dents or just generic parts of the design.
Interlocking Bamboo
3. "Majority of the Commonwealth Commemorative set were not sold and were stored in the Manila Mint."
During WWII, with the advancing Japanese forces, the treasures in the Philippine Treasury were moved to Corregidor. Before the fall of Corregidor, the Americans smuggled out of the Philippines all the gold and silver that the submarine "USS Trout" could carry. The rest were thrown overboard in the depths of Caballo Bay, including the 1936 Commonwealth Commemorative coins.
To know more on "The Destruction of the Philippine Treasury." check out the warfare history network.
Sea salved Commonwealth of the Philippines Commemorative Coins
Due to the fate of these coins during WWII, these commonwealth commemorative coins don't come cheap today. The minimum price you can see on eBay is $350. And even those corroded are sought by collectors due to their scarcity. To know other One Peso silver coins in the Philippines see One Peso Silver Coins of the Philippines - Post Colonial Period.
So if you have these Philippine Commonwealth Commemorative Coins in your collection, treasure them well.