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Greek city of Abra in Spain
Bronze 30mm (24.08 grams) Struck mid 2nd century (circa 150) B.C.
Reference: ACIP 2281; CNH 5; SNG BM Spain.
Certification: NGC Ancients
VF Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5 2771969-005
Female head right.
Plow over grain ear; legend in panel below.
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Abra, officially the Province of Abra (Ilocano: Probinsia ti Abra; Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Abra), is a province in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the Philippines. Its capital is the municipality of Bangued. It is bordered by Ilocos Norte on the northwest, Apayao on the northeast, Kalinga on the mid-east, Mountain Province on the southeast, and Ilocos Sur on the southwest.
Twin peaks on both sides of a river: Denotes the region above the Banaoang Gap where the Abra River exits into the China Sea.
Paddied fields: Signifies that the main occupation and means of livelihood of the province is farming.
Prancing Stallion: Means that the province was once famous for its horses – noted for their strength, speed and endurance.
Abra is from the Spanish word abre meaning gorge, pass, breach or opening. It was first used by the Spaniards to denote the region above the Banaoang Gap where the Abra River exits into the China Sea, thus the Rio Grande de Abra.
The first inhabitants of Abra were the ancestors of the Bontocs and the Ifugaos. These inhabitants eventually left to settle in the old Mountain Province. Other early inhabitants were the Tingguians, or Itnegs, as they are also known.
In 1585, the Tingguians were mentioned for the first time in a letter of Father Domingo de Salazar to the King of Spain.
In 1598, Bangued is occupied by Spanish-Iloko forces. They established a Spanish garrison to protect the Spanish missionaries from the head hunters, to Christianize the Tingguians, and to locate gold mines.
At first no missionary center was established in Bangued. Bangued then was under the care of the missionaries stationed in Vigan or Bantay. However, the Augustinian fathers Martin and Minon were able to penetrate the valley and found a “mission” in Bangued in 1598.
Originally the area was called El Abra de Vigan (“The Opening of Vigan”). During the British Occupation of the Philippines, Gabriela Silang and her army fled to Abra from Ilocos and continued the revolt begun by her slain husband, Diego Silang. She was captured and hanged by the Spanish in 1763.
In 1818, the Ilocos region, including Abra, was divided into Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. On October 9, 1846, Abra became an independent province with the capital and the residence of the provincial governor at Bucay. In 1863, the capital was transferred to Bangued, the province’s oldest town. It remained so until the arrival of the Americans in 1899.
In 1908, the Philippine Commission again annexed Abra to Ilocos Sur in an attempt to resolve Abra’s financial difficulties. On March 9, 1917, the Philippine Assembly re-established Abra as a province under Act 2711.
In 1942, the Japanese forces occupied the Philippines and entered Abra.
Abra was liberated by the Philippine Commonwealth forces and local Cordilleran guerrillas during the Battle of Abra in 1945, at the end of the Second World War.
The revolutionary Marxist priest, Conrado Balweg, who fought for the rights of the Cordillera tribes, began his crusade in Abra. After successfully negotiating a peace accord with Balweg’s group in 1987, the Philippine government created the Cordillera Administrative Region, which includes Abra.
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