Benigno ‘Ninoy’ S. Aquino, Jr. was born to a wealthy, landowning family as the son of a senator and the grandson of a revolutionary hero. His personal achievements came early. In 1950, he covered the Korean War for the Manila Times, at age 18, and three years later, as a presidential aide, he negotiated the surrender of peasant rebel leader Luis Taruc. Before reaching the age of 23, he ran for mayor of his hometown of Concepcion, and became the country’s youngest senator at 35.

After the Sept. 21, 1972 declaration of martial law, Ninoy Aquino was imprisoned for seven years and in 1980, he was allowed to undergo heart surgery in the U.S. Returning home from his three-year exile on August 21, 1983, in an attempt to rebuild democracy, Ninoy Aquino, at age 50, was gunned down in the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport). However, the assassin’s rain of bullets sealed his martyrdom, igniting a national outcry for democracy that would culminate three years after in the historic EDSA People Power, an extraordinary bloodless revolution that handed the presidency to his widow, Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino, and restored the Philippines’ democratic institutions.

In commemoration of the 20th Death Anniversary of the man whose sacrifice meant that freedom was still a hope worth dying for, GOLDQUEST International and B.H. Mayer’s Mint – Germany, in cooperation with The Spirit of EDSA Foundation, Inc. proudly present the Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Coin Collection. A new addition to GOLDQUEST’s Champions for Peace Series, the finely crafted numismatic pieces come in proof, 1 oz fine gold coin available in the Premium Collection, and a set of 10 g fine gold and 1 oz silver coins in the Advantage Collection – precious keepsakes to treasure forever.