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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Revalidados: The Rare Holed Coins of the Philippines

Counterstamped coinage of the Philippines during the Spanish rule is in fact the hardest to collect of all numismatic rarities of the Philippines. Due to few available references for collectors like that of the books of Dr. Orphilla-Fortich and Pablo De Jesus, no other local numismatists have continued the study of Philippine Counterstamped coinage since. Several individuals attempted to make further research on countermark coinage such as the prominent Barilla co-founder Dr. Benita Legarda, and other known officers from the organization Philippine Numismatic And Antiquarian Society (PNAS) but the short lived effort that managed to acquire...

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