Piloncitos

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Small Conical gold nuggets or piloncitos were the earliest recognized coinage of ancient Filipinos, used mainly in the 10th ? 13th century. The inscription has been interpreted as the syllable ?MA? in the accient tagalog sscript and possibly refers to ? Ma-i? or ?Ma-yi?, the name by witch the Philippines was known to Chinese traders in pre-spanish times. A coin in the form of a small conical gold nugget, called the piloncito, appeared next. On its flat base was an embossed inscription, which some scholars say is the character Ma, or the letter M, in the ancient Tagalog script.