Banknotes and coins: The 'calling cards of the nation

Money talk brings about certain moods. We get sad and irritated when there's a lack of it, giddy when we receive crisp bills as "pamasko," proud with a glint in the eye when we have too much of it, and always frustrated when the bills have to be paid.But during the Jose Rizal Lecture at the 2011 Philippine PEN (Poets and Playwrights, Essayists, and Novelists) Conference, historian and author Ambeth Ocampo made his audience smile without throwing cash at them, instead making them ponder about how our banknotes—the "common, everyday things" we fish out of wallets and pockets—speak about us Filipinos.Ocampo, considered an "expert" on all things Rizal, called bills and coins "calling cards of a country.""They tell a story, they're an official view of history," he said at the conference...

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BSP to introduce 100-M crisp banknotes in the coming month

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will introduce into circulation a hundred million new generation currency (NGC) banknotes in time for the Christmas holiday season when crisp peso bills are all the rage, especially with children who get money as their aguinaldo.These peso bills will be added to the almost 300 million currency notes already in circulation. Recently, the New Generation banknote won a top international prize in a recent design competition held in Singapore.Despite the effort of the government to familiarize the public regarding these notes, several complains are being received by the BSP including the notes unattractive design which can be considered ironic in spite of the recent award it bagged.The public is also being warned that counterfeit money will be out again in mass...

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BSP Notes won top prize despite controverisies

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will introduce into circulation a hundred million new generation currency (NGC) banknotes in time for the Christmas holiday season when crisp peso bills are all the rage, especially with children who get money as their aguinaldo.These peso bills will be added to the almost 300 million currency notes already in circulation.The NGC banknotes recently won a finalist award for Best New Banknote Series in a conference in Singapore, despite being criticized for some errors and controversies.Earlier this year, these notes became the subject of political and religious discussions due to the fact that some of the details were either not correct or insufficient. Moreover, the new notes carry the slogan "PINAGPALA ANG BAYAN NA ANG DIYOS AY ANG PANGINOON" which has outraged...

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Sto. Tomas...then UP, now Ateneo...what's next?

The year of 2011 is the year of overhauls and overprints of the current Philippine notes. The most controversial of which, is the issue behind some landmarks of the country and the proper way of writing scientific names, the portrait of figures who were made to look younger, the unattractive and eye sore bright colors, and so on. Most controversial among the changes is the phrase placed on the face of the banknote itself aside from the confusion it brought to the public as they became unfamiliar with the association of the notes color with its face value. Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) quickly withdrew the notes and instead of revising...

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BSP presented Jose Rizal on Philippine Currencies Since 1903 to descendants

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) pays tribute to national hero Jose Rizal, whose 150th birth anniversary is on Sunday, June 19, through an exhibition of Philippine banknotes and coins. The exhibit “Rizal in Our Midst: A Homage to Greatness” showcases the different denominations ranging from five centavos to as high as 100 pesos since 1903 where the image of Rizal or his monument appears. Today, Rizal is on one-piso coins, making him accessible to most Filipinos. About five billion one-piso coins or 30 percent of total coins are in circulation today. On June 19, BSP will launch a commemorative medal bearing Rizal’s image, his signature and...

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BSP to produce Rizal's 150th Anniversary medal

During the centennial celebration of Rizal's day, the Central Bank of the Philippines minted in limited quantities 50 centavo and 1-piso coins showing two angles of Rizal's bust. The coins were produced in the United States and were made of .900 fine silver.The mintage of both coins were just limited to just 100, 000 pieces each, and were assigned as KM 192 and 193 in the Coin Catalog. Descendants of Dr. Jose Rizal are working with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to produce a commemorative medal in time for the national hero's 150th birth anniversary this June. Ramoncita Reyes, great granddaughter of Saturnina Rizal, the hero's eldest sister, said the family decided to participate in the national celebration by creating a gold-plated medal. “This commemorative medal will be produced...

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The Papal Coinage and Medals

Not known to many Filipinos, Bayani Rumbaoa is the official engraver and designer of the famous Pope John Paul II commemorative coin during the celebration of the World Youth Day held in Manila in the year 1995. The year was the second visit of the recently beatified Pope in Manila and his first as a Pope was in the year of 1981. During the Pope’s first visit, Imelda Marcos commissioned Tupas Medal and Coin Engraver to design and engrave medals that would feature the late President’s bust, Ferdinand Marcos and that of the Pope and another medal where both busts are placed on each side of the medal. Contrary to popular sources on the internet, Rumbaoa is not the first coin engraver of the BSP but Tupas was commissioned by the BSP prior to its establishment during the abolition of the...

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Tips on spotting genuine notes in circulation

In the booklet “Know Your Philippine Currency," the BSP advised the public to study and familiarize the characteristics, designs and distinct features of the central banknotes.The following are some practical steps to tell genuine BSP notes:* Feel the paper – Genuine notes are printed on a special kind of paper, which is rough when running the fingers on it. It does not glow under ultraviolet light. The watermark, security fibers, security threads and irisdescent band are included during paper manufacture.* Examine the watermark on the unprinted portion of the note – The watermark is the silhouette of the portrait appearing on the face of the note. Sharp details of the light and shadow effect can be seen when the note is viewed against the light. The contours of the features of the silhouette...

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DTI told to assists monitor coin hoarding activities

The Cebu Bankers Club (CBC) is currently drafting a position paper to urge the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-7) to participate in the campaign to curtail the coin shortage problem, especially within the region. This is with regards to the proliferation of automated machines that use coins, as tokens, as this are considered as one of the factors that contribute to the declining of coin supply in the circulation, said CBC president Claro B. Cabaero. CBC had been very active in supporting the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) program to prevent severe shortage of coin supply. According to Cabaero, CBC will ask the DTI-7 to help in monitoring the hoarding of coins among automated machine operators that include the Automated Tubig Machine (ATM), Piso-Piso Internet machine, Karaoke,...

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New Generation Notes cause New Controversies

The already controversial note may become even more controversial as new criticism on the notes slogan “PINAGPALA ANG BAYAN NA ANG DIYOS AY ANG PANGINOON.” (Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord.) In the February 03 episode of the 700 Club Asia, “IKAW, PERA AT AKO!” where Lito Bunag, the designer of the New Generation currency explained how the new notes differ from the previous issues. He cited that instead of the usual I.O.U.'s phrase “ANG SALAPING ITO AY UMIIRAL SA PILIPINAS AT PAMBAYAD SA LAHAT NG URI NG PAGKAKAUTANG.” the new notes now carry the phrase “PINAGPALA ANG BAYAN NA ANG DIYOS ANG PANGINOON” which is according to the program was derived from the bible itself. Makulay, madetalye at maganda na ang bagong bihis ng ating pera. Pinabatang larawan ng mga presidente, may burdang...

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Anti-Bacterial, Environment Friendly, & Economical New Notes

Recent interviews of the designer of the new Philippine banknotes Lito Bunag himself, defend that the the details of the new banknotes was not intentionally undermining important facts and empirical data. Somehow, critics have affected the decision of the BSP to release the new banknotes. New notes have never seen mass circulation and have been obtainable only through online auctions such as Ebay or directly from either banks or the Central Bank. The errors were not directly admitted by the designer but Design Systemat President Lito Buñag said, “Bank note printing is not like printing a brochure,” as his respond to critics citing that the...

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BSP issued 200-Piso Bill Commemorating UST 400th year

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas recently unveiled a limited commemorative 200-peso (US$4.50) note and gold and silver medals to celebrate the University of Santo Tomas 400th year anniversary.The central bank will issue 10 million legal tender notes and 400 commemorative medals with no monetary value.The central bank will also release 400 special copies of two uncut 200-peso bills equal to P400, matching UST’s years of existence.This [currency overprint] symbolizes BSP’s recognition of the significance of UST as an educational institution.The Philippine Postal Corp. also unveiled commemorative postage stamps featuring key landmarks of the campus...

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BSP Error Notes? What's the big deal?

The newly re-designed notes have not been mostly welcomed by critics and end-users alike mainly due to aesthetic reason and technical reason otherwise. Most critics are particularly pointing-out that the new bills have wrongly written the scientific names of the animals displayed or misplaced some geographical locations in the map of the Philippines.For example, on the 200-peso bill, the tarsier’s scientific name was written as Tarsius Syrichta instead of the correct way, Tarsius syrichta.According to scientists, there are two errors: the scientific name was not italicized; and the second word in the name should not begin with a capital letter.Following...

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Where our money is produced

Three decades ago, the Philippine government took an important step toward greater self-reliance with the establishment of a facility that would be responsible for the production of Philippine bills and coins.The facility, located on East Avenue in Quezon City, is called the Security Plant Complex (SPC) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and is currently headed by Assistant Governor Evelyna Avila.For most of our history, all our country's coins and banknotes were produced abroad. However, the shortages in coins in the early 1960s prompted the government to seriously consider the idea of producing currency in the country instead of importing all...

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Central Bank hires private printer to destroy paper money

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), who just alloted P2 billion to acquire a brand new currency printer, has been outsourcing the shredding and burning of defective security paper used for printing money to a private company located in Marikina.Sources close to the Monetary Board, the central bank’s policy-making arm, said Monetary Board members were not informed that the Security Printing Complex (SPC), headed by assistant governor Eve Avila, has outsourced the destruction of security paper to a paper manufacturer and notebooks maker, Noah’s Paper MillsBut the same sources said even without approval, deliveries started this month and at least...

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BSP Gold Refinery

A few years ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) came out with a beautiful coffee table book entitled, “Ginto: History Wrought in Gold.” The book, which discussed our rich history in terms of our nation’s gold possessions, was the subject of one of my columns last year. A recent development at the BSP, which is in charge of refining Philippine gold to be sold to the international market, is worth another brief discussion.Last May 28, the BSP gold refinery at the Security Plant Complex in Quezon City received good news from the London Bullion Market Association. The LBMA periodically certifies a list of refineries around the world that produce...

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BSP considering new designs of coins and notes vs. counterfeiting

This page requires a higher version browserThe Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas is considering to change the design of our coins and banknotes to fight the proliferation of counterfeit banknotes and coins. BSP also admit that the current designs of our notes and coins have been utilized for the past 20 years now is counterfeits have been very familiar with the these designs.The newly designed money will feature new advantages such as for blind people and other security measures against rampant counterfeiting. According to BSP, these notes and coins will become available in 20...

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BSP mulls shift to plastic money

Plastic money may soon find its way into the wallets of Filipinos as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) considers phasing out paper bills.Unlike the traditional paper money, plastic money is not susceptible to "wear and tear" because it has a coating that protects it from dirt and moisture. It lasts longer in circulation and is harder to counterfeit.Paper money is made out of abaca and cotton whereas plastic money is produced from polymer substrate, which is also used in making other plastic products such as garbage bins and plumbing fittings.The BSP said it got a proposal from Australia, the first country to have a full set of circulating...

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Bangko Sentral defends special deposit accounts

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) defended its decision to keep special deposit accounts (SDA), saying it will continue paying high interest to institutional investors as long as there was demand. This was announced on Monday by BSP deputy governor Diwa C. Guinigundo, who attempted to defuse criticism that the SDAs were making less funds available for companies.By paying investors high interest rates, SDAs – as a monetary tool –siphoned off cash from the financial system, reducing liquidity and thereby cutting inflation risks.There were no indications that the need for SDA facilities were on the wane, Guinigundo said.Shuttering the SDA facility...

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Bangko Sentral aims to improve local fiscal policies

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued landmark guidelines formalizing electronic money transactions, reportedly the first of its kind of electronic innovation in the world.The new rules set a maximum monthly load limit of P100,000 ($2,068) on any e-money instrument such as cash cards, e-wallets and similar products.The Anti-Money Laundering Law will also cover e-money transactions.Meanwhile, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas otherwise hosted the National Course on Macroeconomic Management and Financial Sector Issues, conducted by International Monetary Fund-Singapore Regional Training Institute (IMF-STI), for executives from NEDA, Dept....

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