THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) formally announced that the 20-piso coin will start circulating in the economy after its ceremonial launch in December.
In a statement released on Monday, the Central Bank said once circulated, the new 20-piso coin shall co-exist with the 20-piso banknotes as legal tender.
The 20-piso banknote shall be gradually removed from circulation through “natural attrition.”
The BSP also clarified that official photographs and specifications of the 20-piso New Generation Currency (NGC) coin shall be presented by BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno during its launch.
“To date, the BSP has not released any official image regarding the proposed 20-piso coin,” the BSP said. According to the BSP’s statement, the 20-piso coin will retain major elements of the 20-piso banknote.
The Central Bank also assured that the design and features of the new 20-piso coin will “make it easily distinguishable from the rest of the denominations in the NGC Coin Series.”
Apart from the 20-piso coin, the BSP shall also release in circulation an enhanced 5-piso NGC coin to make it more distinct from other denominations in the NGC Coin Series.
The changes were based on studies on the design, security features, and specifications of the new coins.
A study conducted by the University of the Philippines showed that the 20-piso banknote is the most used denomination for payments across the country.
“Because of this, the 20-piso banknote is easily rendered unfit for circulation and returned to the BSP for replacement. As such, the issuance of a coin in lieu of a banknote is more cost efficient in terms of currency production in the long run,” the BSP said.
In a primer prepared by the BSP, it noted that central banks regularly change the designs of their money, whether coins or banknotes, to guard against counterfeiters.
By making it very difficult and costly for counterfeiters to produce exact copies of a country’s money, the BSP said central banks protect the integrity of their currency against criminals.
The BSP said the dominant color of each banknote denomination will be retained in the new generation currency series using distinct and primary printing inks.
“For instance, 20-piso will still be orange, 50-piso in red, 100-piso in violet, 200-piso in green, 500-piso in yellow and 1,000-piso in blue. Global surveys indicate that people in general differentiate denominations by the dominant color of each banknote,” the primer read.
The BSP said it has a Numismatic Committee that initiates the new design studies and proposes upgraded security features for consideration by its monetary board which in turn submits these to the President for final approval.
In the case of the new generation currency, the BSP invited Filipino design groups to interpret concepts integrating icons, places and events of national, historical and cultural significance.