From
the silver pesos
recovered from
between Corregidor
and Caballo Islands,
Japanese Lt. General
Masaharu Homma
(1888-1946) created
a unique coin for
presentation to his
officers. The coin,
a restrike over the
US minted silver
Philippine pesos
struck in 1907-1912,
was designed to
commemorate the
Japanese victory and
to honor their
fallen comrades. The
dies were cut by the
engraving firm of
Crispolo Zomora &
Sons in Manila in
accordance with a
sketch of the design
said to have been
provided by Homma
personally.
The
design shows a
Japanese enlisted
man looking across
Manila Bay towards
the mountains of
Bataan and, in the
background,
Corregidor.
The
reverse design shows
crossed coconut
palms and the four
star constellation,
The Southern Cross.
The Japanese legend
reads, "
Commemorating the
Expedition to the
Philippines, Era
2602 year" 2602
corresponds to 1942
and to Showa 17
which is 2602 years
after the founding
of the Japanese
Empire.
However, what is
most significant -
and the reason I
have included this
coin on the website
- is that the early
strikes failed to
obliterate the
entire design of the
U.S. minted silver
peso beneath. As
this photograph
clearly shows, the
words "UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA" still
can be seen.
It has been
estimated that only
a few hundred of
these medals were
actually struck and
given to Homma's
officers. So few
have survived that
many coin and medal
collectors have
never even seen
them!
Mark up one further
Japanese shortfall
involving their
Corregidor campaign.