1936 Creation of the Philippine Commonwealth

The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a political designation to the Filipino people by the U.S. government for the Philippines, which ran from 1935 to 1946. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was envisioned as a transition government to rule for 10 years, preparatory to full Philippine independence. The Commonwealth was established after the acceptance by the Philippine Legislature of the Philippine Independence Act, popularly known as the Tydings-McDuffie Law. The law authorized the drafting of a constitution for the Philippines, by a popularly-elected constitutional convention. Upon the ratification of the constitution by the Filipino people, it would then be submitted to the President of the United States who would certify its having met certain requirements in the Independence Act. Thereafter, the Filipino people would then be permitted to elect their own government with full autonomy.

October 1935, the Filipinos held the first national election in its history, electing President Manuel L. Quezon as its first President. With the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1936, three commemorative coins was released to commemorate the event, featuring U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor-General to the Philippines William Francis Murphy, and President Manuel Quezon, with the denomination (2) One Peso coin and (1) Half Peso.

That, in early 1942, after the fall of Manila, which was then declared as Open City, it is said that the Japanese Imperial Army, threw all Philippine-U.S. Coinage which was retrieved from the Manila Mint, at the Bays of Manila, which mostly includes the said series of commemoratives.

That, at present, after treasure hunters and collectors dived in and retrieved some of the coins at the bays of Manila, most of these kind of coins was seen eroded and has slightevidence of deterioration due to the effects of the sea water to the coin metal itself. And for me these are one of the collections you shouldn't miss.