Leper colony money was special money (scrip or vouchers) which circulated only in leper colonies (sanatoriums for people with leprosy) due to the fear that money could carry leprosy and infect other people. However, leprosy is not easily transmitted by casual contact or objects; actual transmission only happens through long-term, constant, intimate contact with leprosy sufferers and not through contact with everyday objects used by sufferers.
Leprosariums emerged during the Middle Ages as places to confine people. They were known as lazarettos due to the Order of Saint Lazarus and his patron saint: protector of hospitals and lepers. These confinement centers were erected in particularly remote areas and had facilities to cover quarantine periods for the sick.
They were used assiduously until a cure for the disease was developed. At the First International Conference on Leprosy (Berlin, 1897), Dr. Hansen recommended the isolation of the sick as a preventive measure. Other specialists also proposed minting coins for restricted use in such places. These measures were in force until 1981 when the World Health Organization determined a treatment to cure the disease. [1]
Special leper colony money was used between 1901 and around 1955.
The original reason for leper colony money was the prevention of leprosy in healthy persons. In 1938, Dr. Gordon Alexander Ryrie in Malaysia proved that the paper money was not contaminated with leprosy bacteria, and all the leper colony banknotes were burned in that country. [2] [3]
The oldest special money known was made in 1901 for use in three leper colonies of Colombia, called Agua de Dios, Cano de Loro, and Contratación. Five denominations of coins were issued: 2.5 centavos, 5 centavos, 10 centavos, 20 centavos, and 50 centavos. "República de Colombia 1901" was engraved. [4] These coins were issued after the first leprosy congress in Berlin in 1897.
Between 1919 and 1952, special coins were used in a Panama Canal Zone leper colony called Palo Seco Colony. One cent, 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents, and one dollar coins were made in the United States, with one hole in the coins. [5]
From 1913 to 1930, special aluminum (later copper-nickel) coins were minted in Manila for use in the Culion leper colony of the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands (then under the United States). In 1942, during the Japanese occupation of World War II, emergency paper money was also issued inside the Culion colony. The currency was discontinued after leprosy became a treatable disease in the 1980s, and the island of Culion itself was declared leprosy-free in 2006. [6] [7] [8] [9]
In 1919, special coins were made in Tama Zenshoen Sanatorium, and later in other sanatoriums in Japan. It is a characteristic of the special money of Japan that coins and in some cases money in papers or plastic were issued by the sanatoriums and not by the government. However, patients liked banknotes or coins of the Japan Bank. When patients were hospitalized, their money was changed for special money, so that this system was used also for the strengthening of segregation. In some sanatoriums, special money served as allowances for poor patients. By 1955 this system had been discontinued in Japan, in some cases initiated by crimes. [10] [11]
In 1936, 5 cents, 10 cents and 1 dollar notes were issued in the Sungei Buloh Settlement in Federated Malay States (today Malaysia), printed in four languages. The director, Dr. Gordon Alexander Ryrie, sent the special banknotes for examination and it was proved that the notes did not carry leprosy. All special banknotes were burned in a bonfire in that country in 1938. [3]
Leper colony money is also known to have existed in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Korea, Nigeria, Thailand, and Venezuela.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
The Mexican peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 16th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$".
The quetzal is the currency of Guatemala, named after the national bird of Guatemala, the resplendent quetzal. In ancient Mayan culture, the quetzal bird's tail feathers were used as currency. It is divided into 100 centavos, or len in Guatemalan slang. The plural is quetzales.
The piso, often called the peso in English, is the official currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 sentimo, also called centavos.
The Portuguese escudo was the currency of Portugal from May 22, 1911, until the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos. The word escudo derives from the scutum shield.
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using peso or dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, but due to rapid inflation, coins with a face value below one peso are now rarely used. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS.
A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. M. leprae, the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Africa through the Middle East, Europe, and Asia by the 5th century before reaching the rest of the world more recently. Historically, leprosy was believed to be extremely contagious and divinely ordained, leading to enormous stigma against its sufferers. Other severe skin diseases were frequently conflated with leprosy and all such sufferers were kept away from the general public, although some religious orders provided medical care and treatment. Recent research has shown M. leprae has maintained a similarly virulent genome over at least the last thousand years, leaving it unclear which precise factors led to leprosy's near elimination in Europe by 1700. A growing number of cases following the first wave of European colonization, however, led to increased attention towards leprosy during the New Imperialism of the late 19th century. Following G.A. Hansen's discovery of the role of M. leprae in the disease, the First International Leprosy Conference held in Berlin in 1897 renewed interest and investment in the isolation of lepers throughout the European colonial empires. Although Western countries now generally treat cases of leprosy individually on an outpatient basis, traditional isolated colonies continue to exist in India, China, and some other countries.
Banknotes of the Philippine peso are issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for circulation in the Philippines. The smallest amount of legal tender in wide circulation is ₱20 and the largest is ₱1000. The front side of each banknote features prominent people along with buildings, and events in the country's history while the reverse side depicts landmarks and animals.
Philippine peso coins are issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for circulation in the Philippines and are currently available in seven denominations. The Philippine peso has been in use since Spanish rule.
Peso dominicano has been the name of the currency of the Dominican Republic since 2011. Its symbol is "$", with "RD$" used when distinction from other pesos is required; its ISO 4217 code is "DOP". Each peso is divided into 100 centavos ("cents"), for which the ¢ symbol is used. With exception of the United States dollar, it is the only currency that is legal tender in the Dominican Republic for all monetary transactions, whether public or private.
Culion, officially the Municipality of Culion, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,213 people.
The escudo is the currency of the Republic of Cape Verde. One escudo is subdivided into one hundred centavos.
The Manila Mint was a coinage mint that briefly served as a branch of the United States Mint, located in Manila, now the capital city of the Philippines.
During World War II in the Philippines, the occupying Japanese government issued a fiat currency in several denominations; this is known as the Japanese government-issued Philippine peso. The Japanese government outlawed possession of guerrilla currency, and declared a monopoly on the issuance of money, so that anyone found to possess guerrilla notes could be arrested or even executed.
Emergency circulating notes were currency printed by the Philippine Commonwealth Government in exile during World War II. These "guerrilla pesos" were printed by local government units and banks using crude inks and materials. Due to the inferior quality of these bills, they were easily mutilated.
The banknotes of the Sungei Buloh Settlement were issued as leprosy colony money in 1935 and 1936, at Sungai Buloh, Selangor, British Malaya when it was a leper colony. The currency was pegged to the Straits Settlements dollar. These notes are extremely scarce. They were all printed by the Survey Department, Federated Malay States. They have never been listed in the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money.
Japanese invasion money, officially known as Southern Development Bank Notes, was currency issued by the Japanese Military Authority, as a replacement for local currency after the conquest of colonies and other states in World War II.
The Brazilian real is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994.
The Culion Leper Colony is a former leprosarium located on Culion, an island in the Palawan province of the Philippines. It was established by the U.S. government in order to rid leprosy from the Philippine Islands through the only method known at the time: isolating all existing cases and gradually phasing out the disease from the population. In addition to segregating the disease from the rest of the population, the island was later established in order to offer a better opportunity for people afflicted with leprosy to receive adequate care and modern treatments.
The history of Philippine money covers currency in use before the Hispanic era with gold Piloncitos and other commodities in circulation, as well as the adoption of the peso during the Hispanic era and afterwards.
The cruzeiro, initially denominated cruzeiro novo, was the currency of Brazil between 1967 and 1986. It is the second of the 3 historical Brazilian currencies called "cruzeiro".