Remember how a few months back it was announced that the PHP20 bill was slated to be reincarnated as a coin because the often ratty banknote were the most used in the country? Well, that reboot has come — almost.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) today unveiled designs for two denominations — one for the all-new PHP20 coin, and an “enhanced” version of the PHP5 coin, meant to hit public circulation in 2020.
The central bank maintains that the new PHP20 coin will have a “longer circulation life” than its bank note predecessor. It’s also the highest denomination in BSP’s New Generation Coin (NGC) series.
The new coin, which retains major elements of the PHP20 bill, features first President Manuel L. Quezon in the front. On the reverse side, it bears the BSP logo and, below it, the Malacañang Palace. Consistent with the rest of the NGC series, it features a native plant — in this case, the Nilad, said to be “clustered in abundance along the banks of Pasig River,” where Malacañang sits.
And after the furor over last year’s easily mixed-up coin designs, BSP says the bi-colored PHP20 coin will be easily distinguishable from the other coins in the series.
Read: Filipinos are not happy with new coin designs released by the central bank
Meanwhile, the PHP5 is being updated to a distinctive nine-sided (or nonagonal) coin, and will also be more easily distinguishable from the other coins in the NGC series, the BSP said. The coin will retain the design elements of its round predecessor, with revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio on the front, and a Tayabak (jade vine) on the reverse.
LOOK: The newly designed P5 coin which will also go into circulation by Q1 2020 | via @BruceTRodriguez pic.twitter.com/C6OJku7BtG
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) December 17, 2019
Once the coins are released early next year, they will coexist with the old PHP20 banknote and PHP5 coin, which will be removed slowly from circulation “through natural attrition.”
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