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In April 1942, while the United States and Philippine soldiers were still fighting the Japanese invading army, roughly 350 TONS of silver was dumped by the allies into Manila Bay. This was done to prevent the Japanese from using the silver to fund their war efforts, since the Americans knew they were going to be driven out of the Philippines.

The treasure to be dumped was stowed in cloth bags containing 2000 pesos each, and placed in wooden boxes which measured 14″x14″x24″, each holding three bags or 6000 pesos per box. Filled with money, the boxes weighed 300 pounds apiece.

Thus shortly before the U.S. and Filipino forces surrendered on May 6, 1942, a king’s ransom, estimated at between 14,000,000 and 17,000,000 pesos were dumped in the deep water south of Corregidor.

Piloncitos to Pesos, pg. 64

A few months later, the Japanese had taken control of the islands and began their search for the silver. Some civilians and guerrillas also attempted diving operations as well as the prisoners who were forced to do the diving smuggled some out, and even after the war a large amount of silver was being recovered from the Bay.

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The “puppet” government issued medals celebrating the creation of the government and the election/appointment of Jose Laurel.

Homma Medal (JAPANESE ISSUED) (bronze)-

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Santo Tomas Internment Camp issued meal tickets to each internee every month. These had the name of the internee on it, their room number, the month, and areas to punch out when they received their morning and evening meals. The paper they were printed on was often left-over paper or reclaimed from other sources (business documents, ledgers, brochures, etc.)

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Exonumia is numismatic items other than coins and paper money. Examples would be tokens, ration tickets, and medals. Also included (at least from my perspective) are “short snorters”, since the importance of them is only partially related to the fact that they are paper money.

The Japanese government, as well as their puppet government, both issued various commemorative medals and coins during the Philippine occupation. Santo Tomas internment camp had meal stamp cards.

• Japanese military medals
• Santo Tomas
• Sea salvage
• Short Snorters

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“Short snorters” (at least the wartime versions) were money carried by soldiers who then had friends and fellow soldiers sign them as souvenirs of their tour of duty. If you ran into someone after signing a note for them and they no longer had it, they owed you a drink (a “short snort”). A few examples are shown here, but for a real dive into the topic, you should visit shortsnorters.org.

A few samples-

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WORLD WAR TWO PHILIPPINE PAPER MONEY
By Gerald Tebben

Why would the U.S. government take new paper money and put it into a revolving drum . . . with sand, floor sweepings and soggy coffee grounds?

The answer to that question is: To win a war.

During World War II, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which manufactures the paper money of the United States and a few other countries, was asked several times to help with the war effort.

In early 1943, the War Department urgently needed a large amount of circulated Philippine paper money. The Army was supporting guerrilla operations in the islands, then held by the Japanese. Infiltrators needed to buy supplies in the Philippines, and they needed to buy them inconspicuously.

The Bureau had a large supply of Philippine paper money on hand, printed before the war. But these brand-new crisp bills wouldn’t do for the military’s needs. New bills would have attracted unwanted attention in the islands, and tipped off the enemy that something was afoot.

So a small cadre of federal employees, sworn to secrecy until after the war, counted out the new stock of Philippine bills . . . and then, aged them. The bills were placed in a gigantic rotating drum, along with the mixture of sand, floor sweepings and soggy coffee grounds. After several hours of spinning the money in the drum at a speed of 60 revolutions per minute–the now-crumpled and dirty bills were removed from the drum, packed for shipment, and secretly dispatched to the Philippine guerrillas. Today, it’s impossible to distinguish these bills from the paper money that circulated in the Philippines before the war.

Did these bills help win the war? All we know is that the Philippine guerrillas were well-armed and rose up against the Japanese . . . when the U.S., under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur, began the operation which lead to the eventual liberation of the Philippines.

– “Money Talks” is a copyrighted production of the American Numismatic Association, 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903, 719/632-2646, ana@money.org. For information about educational seminars on coin collecting and grading, call 1-800-367-9723 and request a brochure.

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Also, please note – MANY of the notes from these provinces are highly collectable, and therefore there are a LOT of modern counterfeits out there. I recently purchased several notes from a few sellers on eBay with near 100% feedback, and the some of the notes were counterfeit. Very well made ones, but still fake. Before you invest a lot of money into rarer notes, please find a reputable dealer who knows how to spot fakes show you some legitimate notes, so that you can hopefully be more aware of what to look for.

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(Many more coming soon!)

A more complete listing of guerrilla units (and a great place to start researching them) can be found at the Philippine Archives Collection | Alphabetical List of Guerrilla Units (A-E, F-O, and P-Z). This site has other sections that can give you good starting points for other research into the various aspects of the Philippines during and immediately after WW2.

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