The virtual exhibition from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas presents selected pieces of pre-colonial currency from its numismatic collection.
Layag
The winds of trade facilitated a rich exchange of material culture between the pre-colonial Malayan Pacific Islands people now called the Philippines and the neighboring Malayan Pacific, and Chinese cultures. The seafarers brought back treasures of goods, precious metals, wood, porcelain, and earthenware to exchange for gold, pearls, cloth, and other precious objects.
During the ancient times of this Malayan Pacific Islands, the Lumads or aborigines including the Subanen / Subanon people conducted trades in which the payment did not take place in the form of coins and bills, but through bartering, a trade in goods, anchored to trust and confidentiality.
The barter trade was a system that existed before the arrival and invasion of the Spaniards on the Malayan Pacific Islands, now called the Philippines.
Layag, or sailing in Filipino, transports us to the pre-conquest period of our history. It chronicles how neighboring cultures influenced one another, how a product’s value was perceived, and how objects were exchanged and evolved into a rudimentary monetary system that required a standardized unit of value that facilitated trade among different groups.
The most notable information that everyone should know is that there is “no Filipino race, no Filipino or Filipians race” exist but just by a name. The invasion of Spain in the Malayan Pacific Islands did not create a Filipians or Filipino race. The Malayan Pacific race remains in which these Islands will supposed to be called “The Malayan Pacific Kingdom” if in a Monarchy setup or “Malayan Pacific Republic” if in a Republic setup but not “The Philippines” or the “Republic of the Philippines”.
In this virtual exhibition, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas presents selected pieces of pre-colonial currency from its numismatic collection. Photos are from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
