Untitled - Api-fellowships.org

MULTIPLE IDENTITIES VIA SPIRITUALITY, HISTORIES AND CULTURAL RE-PRESENTATIONS 167All modern banknotes have on the front or face: adetailed and prominent portrait, the denomination orvalue of the note clearly stated in numbers and words, apromise to pay the bearer the value indicated on thenote, a serial number, issue date and the signature ofthe Governor of the Central Bank (sometimes thesignature of the President as seen in Philippinebanknotes). Banknotes are often in a distinct over-allcolor to help users differentiate the variousdenominations. As a historian, I was more interestedin the reasons or rationale behind banknote design andtheir historical and cultural background. One couldsay that banknotes were a form of public history, or adocument that expressed a given historical past asunderstood by the Monetary authority. All banknotescarry images of nation: from portraits of monarchs andpresidents to icons of nationalism like heroes andsignificant cultural artifacts or historical events. Allthese are positive symbols that promote a sense ofpride and identity. The use of historical figures orevents on a banknote is an attempt to connect past andpresent to achieve relevance for the public as the enduser. Most of the figures on banknotes are no longerliving, they are historical, and connected to the birth ofthe nation with the notable exception of thebanknotes of Thailand who have a living person, thereigning king, H.M King Bhumibol on all theirbanknotes.Banknote Design ApprovalWhile the Monetary authority cannot speak for anation, it actually does so on banknotes. There are nogeneral or public consultations made regardingbanknote design because this would complicate anddelay issuance. Consultations are made often in-houseor in committees within the bank to discuss designelements. In the Philippines a new banknote design isinitiated by the Bangko Sentral NumismaticCommittee that discusses all aspects of design andproduction, they recommend approval to theMonetary Board of the Bank and then the Governor ofthe Bangko Sentral presents these to the President ofthe Philippines for final approval. In Japan, theFinance Minister initiates the process, the Bank ofJapan draws up the designs and the Governor of theBank goes back to the Finance Minister for approval. Itis presumed that the Finance Minister has consulted orinformed the Prime Minister regarding these designs.In Thailand, the process is the same: it begins with aBanknote Management Group, goes up to the Boardand Governor of the Bank, then the Finance Ministerwho transmits these for final approval by the RoyalHousehold, and in particular by authority of the Kingwhose portrait is on all the notes. In Indonesia andMalaysia, the process begins and ends with the BankNegara.What follows are some notes gathered from eachcountry visited that will figure in a book on the subject.It is unfortunate that for this report we cannot includethe many illustrations that make the subject veryengaging.PHILIPPINESThe oldest known example of Philippine writing issaid to be the Laguna Copper Plate Inscription or LCI.It is a piece of copper with ancient Javanese, dated tothe 10 th C, documenting a transaction in gold. It issignificant that the earliest writing in the Philippines isnot a poem or a piece of literature but a receipt. Goldwas used as a social marker and in trade in pre-Spanishtimes and archeological evidence reveals that earlymoney were small gold pellets, known in numismaticcircles as “piloncitos”, stamped with the pre-Spanishcharacter for “ma” that some historians claim wasshort for “Ma-yi” one of the ancient names of one ofthe islands in an archipelago that is now the modernPhilippines. These piloncitos have also been found inarcheological sites in Indonesia and Thailand andother parts of insular Southeast Asia suggesting acurrency that was in use before the coming of the Westin the 16 th century. It is significant that the character“ma” stamped on the piloncito could mean “mas” andshort for “emas” the Malay word for gold.While the Spanish silver dollar, a coin better known as“piece of eight” (ochoreales) was legal tender in thecolonial Philippines, the first paper banknote wasissued in 1859 by the BancoEspañol Filipino de IsabelII (Spanish-Philippine Bank of Isabel II) that laterbecame the present Bank of the Philippine Islands.The First Philippine Republic issued banknotes in1898-1899 and when the United States acquired thePhilippines from Spain in 1898 and ruled for half acentury, notes were issued by private banks and later bythe Commonwealth government until the SecondWorld War when the Japanese occupied thePhilippines and issued banknotes.In 1949 upon the establishment of the Central Bankof the Philippines, private banks were not allowed toThe Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows