The Royal Cedula of February 12, 1830, was not received in Manila until November 6, 1830.  Hence it is possible that no stamped paper of the class called ILUSTRES was issued until the biennial period  of 1832-33.

The Royal Cedula of February 12, 1830, which was dictated for Cuba, Porto Rico as well  as  the Philippines provided that the price of SELL0 3 should be 4 reales and that the price of SELLO 4 DE OFICIO and POBRES should be 1/2 real each.  The specimens of stamped paper which have survived, however,  show that these prices for SELLO 3, SELLO 4 DE OFICIO and POBRES were never . applied to the Philippines, although it has not been possible to find any Royal Decree which excepted the Philippines from any of  the provisions of the Royal Cedula of February 12, 1830.

E. 1868 to 1871
 

The ESCUDO, which was equivalent to exactly 4 reales de PLATA, the official monetary unit in Spain from June 26, 1864, until October 19, 1868,  The Royal Order of March 21, 1865, required the denominations of Philippine stamps and stamped paper to be expressed in terms of the ESCUDO, but delayed the enforcement of this provision until January l, 1868, in order to avoid the expense of destroying or surcharging the existing stocks including   those  already printed for the biennial period of 1666-67 The Royal Order of March 21, 1865, has been quoted on pages  24 to 25________ .

The denominations of ILUSTRES, SELLO I, SELLO 2 and SELL0 3, as expressed in ESCUDOS, were the exact equivalent of the denominations expressed  in  reales  which  had  been  issued  from  1830  to  1867.   But  the exact equivalent of 1 cuartillo  would be 6 l/4c. de escudo. Hence, perhaps, to  avoid  an  inconvenient  fraction  for  which  no  coin  existed, the denomination of SELLO 4 OE OFICIO and POBRES, expressed In ESCUDOS, slightly less than the denominations in reales which had prevailed prior to 1868.

F.   1872 to 1877
 

The PESETA, which was equivalent exactly to 1 3/5 REALES DE PLATA, became the official monetary unit in Spain on October 19, 1868, and has remained the monetary unit of Spain since that date. The denominations of Philippine stamped paper were expressed in PESETAS from  January 1, 1872, until December 31, 1877.  It has not been possible to find  the authority for  expressing the denominations of Philippines stamped paper in PESETAS.  The denominations of ILUSTRES, SELLO 1, SELLO 2, and SELLO 3, as expressed in pesetas, were exactly equivalent to the denominations expressed in reales which were current from 1830 to 1867. The exact equivalent of 1 cuartillo would be 15 5/8c de peseta.

On the other hand  5c de escudo would be equivalent to exactly 12 l/2c de peseta.  Apparently the value of SELLO 4 DE OFICIO and POBRES was fixed at 12c de peseta because this was the whole number which was most nearly equivalent to 5c de escudo, which was the  value of these two classes of stamped paper during the four years preceding  January I, 1872.

G.  1878 to 1887
 

The PESO (Mexican Currency) was equivalent to exactly 8 REALES DE PLATA.  It has not been possible to find the authority for expressing the denominations of Philippine stamped paper in pesos during the period from 1878 to 1887, but this change was undoubtedly effected because most of the coins in circulation in the Philippines were Mexican   silver,   which  had   always   been   the   principal   monetary   medium of the Philippines.  The denominations of ILUSTRES,  SELLO 1, SELLO 2, and SELLO 3 as expressed in pesos were the exact equivalent of the denominations expressed in reales which were current from 1830 to 1867.  The equivalent (exact) of 1 cuartillo would be 31 1/4 mil. de peso.  The exact equivalent of 5c de escudo would be 25 mil de peso. Hence the value of  SELLO 4 DE OPICIO and POBRES was made exactly equivalent to the denominations of these two classes of paper as expressed in escudos during the period from 1668 to 1871.

The  POBRES class  stamped paper was abolished by the decree of  December 18, 1869,  which provided that thereafter SELLO 4 DE OFICIO should be used in  its stead.  This decree  was not  enforced, however, and the Royal Order of October 28, 1878, again prescribed that  PAPEL DE  POBRES  should  be  abolished  and  that  SELLO 4 DE OFICIO should be substituted for it. This decree provided that PAPE  DE POBRES should continue to be used until the existing supply was exhausted.  The existing supply was presumably that for the biennial period of 1878-79.  Hence, it is presumed that PAPEL DE POBRES was abolished, effective January 1, 1880.  No specimen of POBRES which was issued subsequent to the biennial period of 1872-72 has been seen, however.