Bangko Sentral redesigning PH coins

The country’s coins are set to get new designs in the next two to three years to match the more modern designs of the new-generation currency (NGC) bank notes that were released in 2010, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced this week.

“The BSP’s numismatic committee is discussing the new designs,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo told reporters this week.

The new designs would likely be finalized by 2015, he said.

The BSP’s Monetary Board and President Aquino would have to approve the new designs before the coins would be released for circulation. Guinigundo said barring any unexpected delay, the new coins would be released by 2016 or before the end of the current administration.

The senior central bank official said the new coins would still feature the country’s revolutionary heroes. National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal’s face is currently on the one-peso coin. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the country’s first president, is on the 5-peso coin. Katipunan leaders Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini are both on the 10-peso coin.

Other coins in circulation today are the 25, 10, five and one centavo coins. None of the coins under one peso feature the likeness of any national hero. Guinigundo declined to say if the BSP would continue to produce all the existing coin denominations.

The redesigned coins would be minted using new technologies, Guinigundo said. For instance, several features may be added to coins with similar size to allow blind people to distinguish between denominations.

The BSP also plans to use less precious metals like copper and nickel in the new coins to make them cheaper to produce and less susceptible to being melted down.

“Our goal is to bring down the value of the metal in the coin below its face value,” he said.

In the past, several scrupulous groups resorted to “mining” the country’s coins to extract the precious metals inside, which are more valuable than the face value of the coins themselves.

Once the new coins are released, the BSP said it would start demonetizing all bills and coins that feature the older designs—a process that is expected to take at least three years.

The BSP said about 19 billion pieces of coins were in circulation today.

The newly designed bank notes were released by the BSP in December of 2010. Major revisions to the old designs include the inclusion of the portrait of late President Corazon Aquino in the 500-peso bill. Mrs. Aquino’s portrait was put next to the face of her late husband, former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr.

Photos of government buildings and historical events were also replaced with the country’s top tourist attractions, including the Tubbataha Reef on the 1000-peso bill, and the Chocolate Hills in Bohol on the 200-peso bill.