Last week I bought several pieces of silver coins from Mr. Restituto Velasco at Quiapo. He is called Mang Totoy to most of us, and he was there for several decades already and probably you bought some coins from him also. I used to accompany my friends from the provinces during my college days (1970s), to sell some silver coins to him (at only Ten to Twenty Pesos then). Last week when the silver was 32 dollars an ounce I sold to him some ugly 1907 silver pesos at P650 and got a Fine 1910 silver peso for P800. I can not tell prices for today (silver rose again) but I will see later this week. Wish we can meet and compare things when you get here. I use to keep my ugly coins then, but now that I have retired from work and rely only on my pension, I decided to slowly sell my ugly coins mostly bought earlier on an average cost of P350 per small peso. Thanks.

can't believe it. totoy still there at quiapo. said hi to him. most of my coins were bought from him during 1980-83. he is surely one of the cheapest. now my philippine-u.s. silver coins were only few hundreds that i bought from manila. i never have a change to buy and sell philippine silver coins since then. but i have 30,000 u.s. coins now instead. p.s. i really miss totoy and the philppines. i miss chating with him on those coins.

silver break the record high again at $36.47 an ounce. while gold reached a high at $1,439.20 an ounce.

so you are more senior than me in this coin field. during early 70's. when i was also in college. i remembered i sold a roll of uncirculated 1945 fifty centavos at a store at c.m recto ave. at that time. i really don't know about the prices and collection. i sold to that guy at 3 peso each. 20 pc for 60 peso. i was very happy. then the next day. i sold many circulated silver assorted peso to him at the same price. then i realized i make a mistake. the new one suppose to be more expensive. anyway. what i can i do.

i also bought some from alex and cesar at mabini. a young handsome guy during that time. and also some other coin stores at mabini. like an american owner nearby alex. a chinese owner who passed away and his wife continue his business. well sorry. i forgot their names. opps other collectors like albino and escano (attorney).

o.k. so much for that. good night. i have to go..........

There were a lot of coin dealers at Quiapo and Sta Cruz areas then. But now there are just a few. I remember that Mang Totoy moved from place to place within Quiapo area. I consider myself new in this field, I inherited some good silver coins but it got lost because in my young days, it do not matter much. I concentrated on this hobby just last year when I retired from work. Nowadays the coin dealers at Mabini are very expensive and I hardly go there. The friendly Mr. Albino still maintains a store there but it seems that he sells only to foreigners because one time I was there and he told me to attend the coin auction but I saw a tourist buy some coins. Atty Escano owns a store at Mega Mall (4th floor) and another at SM North (Parking Bldg, ground floor). Still around at Recto near Mendiola is (Ray) De Jesus Novelty Store (this is also a very old site), there are good coins there at reasonable prices. The most well known nowadays is the JC Coins and Anitiques operated by the handsome Jun Cuartero at Greenhills, San Juan.

thanks. wow. things have changed. are they still trading 1907s and 1903s peso at near bullion value?. how much is the buy and sell right now from totoy. 1907s peso?. 1903s peso?. assorted peso before 1945s?. give me a based silver price. and then those coins and prices involve. today. it will be another silver and gold breaking record day. silver highest is $36.79/oz. gold high $1,445.20/oz.

let's based on the high today at $36.79/oz. and the exchange rate at 43.25 to a dollar. i know sometimes they have no buyers. the b.v. will be trading at a lower price or discount. right?.

bullion value: 36.79/oz x 43.25/$ x .5144 oz. = 818.50 peso for 1907s-1912s silver peso.

bullion value: 36.79/oz x 43.25/$ x .7800 oz. = 1,241.11 peso for 1903s-1906s silver peso.

bullion value: 36.79/oz x 43.25/$ x .7600 oz. = 1,209.29 peso for 1961-1974 commemorative peso. based on average silver content.

bullion value: 36.79/oz x 43.25/$ x .8148 oz. = 1,296.48 peso for 1975-1981 commemorative 50 peso.

bullion value: 36.79/oz x 43.25/$ x .4019 oz. = 639.49 peso for 1975-1982 commemorative 25 peso.

wow. i remembered buying 1974 (25 silver peso) at 45.00 during 1983. but i was very dump that i sold 10 peso each for those 1963-64 silver peso during 1970's. and have to buy back 60 peso during early 1980's. well. now it's worth at least 1,210.00 peso. see what had happened to our peso. it was devalued so much since i left. it's good it was improved from a high around 56.00:1 up to 43.25:1.

The prices here do not follow the rates you enumerated because of the local trends are very unpredictable. Last week when silver was at 32 dollars per ounce, Mang Totoy sells the small peso for P800 and the big peso for P1200 (the melting coins he sells for less, if he do not know you for P700 and P1000). Now that silver is around 35D (wow) I do not know how much the price will go up. I talked with a jeweler and he tells me that most silver here are sourced locally from Chinese traders who melts the old coins. The imported true silver bullion are costlier since it has a guaranteed Fineness and pays taxes and duties, thus cost more than the price in the world market. But this information is denied by some jewelers while others confirm it, I am not sure which is which.

explain more on this one. mang totoy sell 1903s for 1,200.00. but if he doesn't know you. he sell lesser at 1,000.00. why lesser for a person whom you don't know him?. suppose to be higher.

o.k. everything here is based on $32.00 per ounce. and the exchange rate is 43.25 peso per dollar.

in u.s. the buying for 1903s will be $30.00 (1,298 peso) and selling at $36.00 (1,557.00 peso) from VG to VF condition. it should be in line with commom date morgan dollar dated before 1921.

please reply and thanks.

Ah, there is buying and selling of coins, collectible coins and coins for melting (ugly coins no one would like to collect) the collectible small peso coins I paid for P800 and the ugly coins I sold for P650 (this was last week). For melting coins he sells P700 (small peso) and P1000 (big peso) for friends, some people buy it for melting and converting to jewelries and adornments, costlier for others. I found out early last year that most of my collections are ugly coins (full of scratches, dents, stains, and all kinds of damages, etc..). Now I am trying to improve the collection by buying beautiful coins, mostly from friends and collectors. It is very hard to get good coins from dealers...

so in short:
1907s peso ugly - buying 650.00, selling 700.00.
1907s peso better - buying 650.00, selling 800.00.

1903s peso ugly - buying 900.00, selling 1,000.00
1903s peso better - buying 900.00, selling 1,200.00.

correct me if there is wrong there. thanks.

The prices were for last week when silver was 31 going to 32, I do not know for today, silver is very high at 35D and they usually adjust prices here everyday.

more realistic should be: based on $32.00/oz.

1907s peso ugly - buying 650.00, selling 700.00.
1907s peso better - buying 700.00, selling 800.00.

1903s peso ugly - buying 1,000.00, selling 1,050.00
1903s peso better - buying 1,100.00, selling 1,200.00

tell me if you have new prices from mang totoy. and also indicate what day?. what is the exchange rate?. and what is the spot silver price on that day?. thanks.

ps. the price for 1903s-05s silver peso at VF and XF should be very high now. i should estimate VF at $60.00 and XF at $90.00. but again. if they don't know you. they going to buy from you at only $31.00 each regardless of condition. and that will be the exact price that mang totoy sell us at 1,340.00 peso based on $36.10 per ounce at 43.25 to one dollar exchange rate. so. if you buy from totoy and sell it to any american dealers. you can not make a profit. but if you buy from totoy and keep it as a collector and bring it to america. that piece of 1903s silver peso will worth $60..00 (100% profit) on a VF condition. and worth $90.00 (150% profit) on a XF condition. and you can sell it via e-bay and make money too.

another question? if i go to the philippines this year or next. can totoy have available many 1903s to 05s and 1907s to 10s pesos? like 100 to 200 piece each. and the condition from very fine and above. or fine and above with all thirteen stars shown. i ask this question. it's because i have been out for so many years. and maybe the philiipine-u.s. silver peso became so few that it is hard to buy them.
please reply and thanks again.

Silver USPI Peso coins are available throughout the whole year but unfortunately not as many as you like. On an ordinary day you can get one or two big pesos and six to a dozen small pesos from Mang Totoy. But there are other sources although higher in costs. If you really want it. You better send in some cash and let someone start accumulating the coins so you can take it back with you.

WOW. what a shame?. those beauty 1907s and 1903s pesos were almost disappear. i can't believe it. many might melted at the central bank of the philiipines. because when i was there before i left. the central bank was also a big buyer. and they offered a good price better than outsiders. secondly the jewelry stores were also melting down those pesos. and lastly. many american also bought a lot and bring it to u.s.a. not to mention the big pesos. what about the assorted one. maybe very few were left. thanks again.