On Thursday, October 29, The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that the proposed new generation coins would feature the electromagnetic signature (EMS) to guard against tampering and counterfeiting.
“We are also concerned about the so-called integrity of our coins. We must guard against possible tampering and issuance of counterfeit coins so we are introducing the EMS that will allow the vending machines to reject counterfeits,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said.
He added that the central bank’s numismatic committee has completed its study on the various security features, design, and dimensions of the new generation coins.
“We will be finalizing all our recommendations for the approval by the Monetary Board. As provided by the BSP Charter, we will also be going to the Palace for the presidential approval of the proposed design, security features, dimensions of the new generation coins,” he said.
Guinigundo also revealed there would be rationalization in the denominations of the new generation coins.
"There will be rationalization in terms of number. Some denominations will have to go because they have outlived their usefulness as far as the general public is concerned,” he said.
The existing one-centavo, 5-centavo, 10-centavo, 25-centavo, P1, and P5 coins have been in circulation since 1995, while the P10 bearing the profiles of Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini in a conjoint manner on the obverse side was issued in 2001.
The coins' dimensions would also be altered due to the high demand for high-denominated coins such as P1, P5, and P10, he added.
But BSP could not stop the minting of one-centavo coins since it is mandated by the law.
Guinigundo did not give a schedule for the release of the new coins, but said such would co-exist with the New Generation Currency (NGC) banknotes by 2018 or 2019, "both with cutting edge security features."
The BSP is also on track with the schedule of the demonetization of the New Denomination Series (NDS) banknotes launched in 1985.
Data showed the percentage of NDS banknotes to the number of banknotes in circulation has been reduced to 15.89% or 432.02 million pieces as of end-September 2015 from 20.98% or 711.68 million pieces in end-December 2014.
In terms of value, the percentage of NDS banknotes to the value of those in circulation was reduced to 8.51% or P67.28 billion from 20.41% or P184.35 billion.
The old or NDS banknotes could only be used for daily transactions until December this year, he said.
Source: www.philstar.com
