The date appears at the bottom, and "United States of America" appears at the top.
The upper register has 13 stars, and the lower register has 13 vertical stripes. This is a broad winged eagle, sitting atop a shield divided into two registers. The earliest coins were minted when the islands were a US Territory, and they bear the arms of the US Territories. The reverse of the coins comes in two varieties. Liberty appears on the silver coins, instead of the base metal coins. This was done to show the work being done by Americans in building a better Philippines. The obverse of the 10, 20, 50 centavo, and peso coins are similar, but they show the figure of Liberty, a standing female figure (considered by many to be the daughter of the designer 'Blanca') in the act of striking the anvil with a hammer. This figure is an allegory for the hard work being done by the native peoples of the Philippines in building their own future. He is on the left side (foreground), while on the right side (background) there is a simmering volcano, Mt. The 1⁄ 2 centavo, one centavo, and five centavo coins depict a Filipino man kneeling against an anvil, with a hammer resting at his side. The obverse of these coins remained largely unchanged during the years 1903 to 1945. In both cases the silver was alloyed with copper. From 1903 to 1906, the silver coins had a silver content of 90%, while those struck after 1906 had a reduced silver content of 75% for 10 through 50 centavos and 80% for the peso. The 1⁄ 2 and 1 centavo coins were struck in bronze, the 5 centavo struck in copper (75%) - nickel (25%), the 10, 20, 50 centavo and peso coins were struck in a silver composition. Denominations included the 1⁄ 2 centavo, one centavo, five centavo, 10 centavo, 20 centavo, 50 centavo, and one peso. The United States also struck coins for use in the Philippines from 1903 to 1945. In 1897 Spain brought over 1-peso silver coins as well as 5- and 10- centimos de peseta to be accepted by Filipinos as 1- and 2- centimos de peso. The dearth of pre-1857 copper coins were addressed by counterfeit two-cuarto coins (worth 1/80th of a peso) made by Igorot copper miners in the Cordilleras. In silver: 10, 20, 50 centimos the 50 centimos weighing 12.98 grams of 0.9 fine silver (fineness reduced to 0.835 in 1881).In gold: 1, 2, 4 pesos the 4 pesos weighing 6.766 grams of 0.875 fine gold.It produced the following denominations according to Spanish standards, with 100 centimos equal to a peso: The Casa de Moneda de Manila (or Manila mint) was founded in 1857 in order to supply smaller Philippine currency after the California gold rush of 1848 made silver more expensive and drained the colony of silver and small gold coins. In copper: 1/2, 1, 2 cuartos 20 cuartos in a real and 160 cuartos in a peso.In silver reales: 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8 reales one peso equals 8 reales.In gold escudos: 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8 escudos each escudo worth approximately 2 silver pesos or 16 reales.Gold and silver coins brought to it by Spain, China and neighboring countries were in circulation. Until the Manila mint was established in 1857 the Philippines had no money of its own. Additionally, Spanish gold onzas or eight- escudo coins were also introduced with identical weight to the Spanish dollar but valued at 16 silver pesos. The local salapi continued under Spanish rule as a half-peso coin. The Spanish silver peso worth eight reales was first introduced by the Magellan expedition of 1521 and brought in large quantities by the Manila galleons after the 1565 conquest of the Philippines see Spanish dollar. The salapi continued under Spanish rule as a teston worth four reales or half a Spanish peso. The original silver currency unit was the rupee or rupiah (known locally as salapi), brought over by trade with India and Indonesia. Gold was an important medium of exchange in the various territories of pre-Hispanic Philippines, in the form of stamped gold beads called piloncitos and gold barter rings. From the same Spanish peso or dollar is derived the various pesos of Latin America, the dollars of the US and Hong Kong, as well as the Chinese yuan and the Japanese yen. The Philippine peso is derived from the Spanish dollar or pieces of eight brought over in large quantities by the Manila galleons of the 16th to 19th centuries.