Philippine peso

Philippine peso
local name	Piso ng Pilipinas (Tagalog)
banknotes-image
banknotes-image-width	11em
coins-image
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banknotes-image-caption	Banknotes
Banknotes	Coins
ISO 4217 code	PHP
Official users	Philippines
Years circulated	1898–present
Inflation	2.8% (2017)
Subunit	sentimo or centavo
Symbol	₱
Coins	1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, ₱1, ₱5, ₱10
Banknotes	₱20, ₱50, ₱100, ₱200, ₱500, ₱1,000
Central bank	Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Printer	The Security Plant Complex
Mint	The Security Plant Complex

The Philippine peso, also referred to by its Filipino name piso (sign: ₱; code: PHP), is the official currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos or sentimos in Filipino. As a former colony of the United States, the country used English on its currency, with the word "peso" appearing on notes and coinage until 1967. Since the adoption of the usage of the Filipino language on banknotes and coins, the term "piso" is now used. Since 2017, the ISO 4217 standard refers to the currency by the Filipino term "piso".

The peso is usually denoted by the symbol "₱". Other ways of writing the Philippine peso sign are "PHP", "PhP", "Php", "P$", or just "P". The "₱" symbol was added to the Unicode standard in version 3.2 and is assigned U+20B1 (₱). The symbol can be accessed through some word processors by typing in "20b1" and then pressing the Alt and X buttons simultaneously. This symbol is unique to the Philippines as the symbol used for the peso in countries like Mexico and other former colonies of Spain in Latin America is "$".

Banknotes and coins of the Philippines are minted and printed at the Security Plant Complex of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) in Quezon City.

Coinage

New Generation Currency Coin Series (current)

On March 26, 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas introduced the New Generation Currency Coin Series which was circulated through banks on March 27. The new series features native Philippine flora. However, the 10-centavo coin is not included in this series, because it was removed as a general circulation coin.

New Generation Currency Coin Series (2018)
Obverse	Reverse	Value	Diameter	Weight	Edge Thickness	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	Introduced Date
		1 sentimo	15 mm	1.90 g	1.54 mm	Nickel-plated steel	Plain	"Republika ng Pilipinas"; Three stars and the sun (stylized representation of the Philippine flag; Value; Year of minting; Mint mark	Xanthostemon verdugonianus (Mangkono); logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas	March 26, 2018
		5 sentimo	16 mm	2.20 g	1.60 mm	Nickel-plated steel	Reeded	"Republika ng Pilipinas"; Three stars and the sun (stylized representation of the Philippine flag); Value; Year of minting; Mint mark	Calotropis gigantea (Kapal-kapal Baging); logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas	March 26, 2018
		25 sentimo	20 mm	3.60 g	1.65 mm	Nickel-plated steel	Plain	"Republika ng Pilipinas"; Three stars and the sun (stylized representation of the Philippine flag); Value; Year of minting; Mint mark	Dillenia philippinensis (Katmon); logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas	March 26, 2018
		₱1	23 mm	6.00 g	2.05 mm	Nickel-plated steel	Segmented (Plain and Reeded edges)	"Republika ng Pilipinas"; Portrait of José Rizal; Value; Year of minting; Mint mark	Vanda sanderiana (Waling-waling); logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas	March 26, 2018
		₱5	25 mm	7.40 g	2.20 mm	Nickel-plated steel	Plain	"Republika ng Pilipinas"; Portrait of Andrés Bonifacio; Value; Microprint of "Republika ng Pilipinas"; Year of minting; Mint mark	Strongylodon macrobotrys (Tayabak); logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Microprint of "Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas"	November 30, 2017
		₱10	27 mm	8.00 g	2.05 mm	Nickel-plated steel	Reeded with edge inscription of "BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS" in italics	"Republika ng Pilipinas"; Portrait of Apolinario Mabini; Value; Microprint of "Republika ng Pilipinas"; Year of minting; Mint mark	Medinilla magnifica (Kapa-kapa); logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Microprint of "Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas"; Microdots	March 26, 2018

Banknotes

New Generation Currency Series (current)

In 2009, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas announced that it will launch a massive redesign for the banknotes and coins to further enhance security features and to improve durability. The members of the numismatic committee included Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo and Dr. Ambeth Ocampo, chairman of the National Historical Institute. Designed by Studio 5 Designs and Design Systemat, the new banknotes' designs features famous Filipinos and iconic natural wonders. Philippine national symbols will be depicted on coins. The BSP started releasing the initial batch of new banknotes in December 2010. The word used in the bills was "Pilipino" (ᜉᜒᜎᜒᜉᜒᜈᜓ). On December 16, 2010, the new design for Philippine banknotes were released. The font used for lettering in the banknotes is Myriad, while the numerals are set in the Twentieth Century font. On December 16, 2016, BSP announced that they will launch sets of banknotes bearing President Duterte's signature. The BSP initially released five million pieces of the new 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000-peso bills with Duterte's signature. As for the 200-pesos bills, only two million pieces were released because of lower demand for this denomination.

The New Generation Currency series will be the only circulating set of notes by December 30, 2017.

In 2017, the BSP updated the design of the NGC series banknotes with the following changes:

• Replacing the signature of BSP governor Amando Tetangco Jr. to the newly appointed governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. (all banknotes)
• Enlarged the font size of the year of issue (all banknotes)
• Italicization of the scientific names on the reverse (all banknotes)
• Replaced the images of the Aguinaldo Shrine and the Barasoain Church on the obverse side of the ₱200 banknote with scenes of the Declaration of Philippine Independence and the opening of the Malolos Congress respectively.
• The text "October 1944" was added after the word "Leyte Landing" at the obverse of the ₱50 banknote
• The Order of Lakandula Medal and the phrase “Medal of Honor” were removed on the obverse side of the ₱1000 banknote

New Generation Currency series

Image		Value	Dimensions (millimetres)	Main Colour		Design		Year of First Issue
Obverse	Reverse					Obverse	Reverse
File:New PHP20 Banknote (Obverse).jpg	File:New PHP20 Banknote (Reverse).jpg	₱20	160 × 66		Orange	Manuel L. Quezon, Declaration of Filipino as the national language, Malacañang Palace	Banaue Rice Terraces; Paradoxurus hermaphroditus philippinensis (palm civet); Cordilleras weave design	December 17, 2010
File:New PHP50 Banknote (Obverse).jpg	File:New PHP50 Banknote (Reverse).jpg	₱50	160 × 66		Red	Sergio Osmeña, First Philippine Assembly, Leyte Landing	Taal Lake in Batangas; Caranx ignobilis, maliputo (giant trevally); Batangas embroidery design	December 17, 2010
File:New PHP100 Banknote (Obverse).jpg	File:New PHP100 Banknote (Reverse).jpg	₱100	160 × 66		Violet	Manuel A. Roxas, Old Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) building in Intramuros, Manila, Inauguration of the Third Philippine Republic	Mayon Volcano in Albay; butanding, Rhincodon typus, whale shark; Bicol textile design	December 17, 2010 April 11, 2016 (stronger mauve color)
File:New PHP200 Banknote (Obverse).jpg	File:New PHP200 Banknote (Reverse).jpg	₱200	160 × 66		Green	Diosdado P. Macapagal, EDSA People Power 2001, Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite, Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan	Chocolate Hills in Bohol; Tarsius syrichta, Philippine tarsier; Visayas weave design	December 17, 2010
		₱200	160 × 66		Green	Diosdado P. Macapagal, EDSA People Power 2001, Declaration of Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, Opening of the Malolos Congress in Barasoain Church, Malolos, Bulacan	Chocolate Hills in Bohol; Tarsius syrichta, Philippine tarsier; Visayas weave design	December 5, 2017
File:New PHP500 Banknote (Obverse).jpg	File:New PHP500 Banknote (Reverse).jpg	₱500	160 × 66		Yellow	Corazon C. Aquino, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., EDSA People Power I, Benigno Aquino monument in Makati City	Subterranean Underground River in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; Tanygnathus lucionensis, blue-naped parrot; Southern Philippines cloth design	December 17, 2010
File:New PHP1000 Banknote (Obverse).jpg	File:New PHP1000 Banknote (Reverse).jpg	₱1000	160 × 66		Light Blue	José Abad Santos, Vicente Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda; Centennial celebration of Philippine independence; Philippine Medal of Honor	Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Sulu Sea; Pinctada maxima, South Sea pearl; Mindanao design for Tinalak (Ikat-dyed abaca)	December 17, 2010
		₱1000	160 × 66		Light Blue	José Abad Santos, Vicente Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda; Centennial celebration of Philippine independence	Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Sulu Sea; Pinctada maxima, South Sea pearl; Mindanao design for Tinalak (Ikat-dyed abaca)	December 5, 2017
Template:Standard banknote table notice

Security

• Raised ink on all upper-left numbers (20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000) - All banknotes
• Rough Texture - All banknotes
• Concealed Value - All banknotes
• Watermark - All banknotes
• See-through registration device - All banknotes
• 4mm-wide Security thread - 100, 200, 500 and 1000 Peso notes
• 2mm-wide Security thread - 20 and 50 Peso notes
• Optically Variable Device Patch - 500 and 1000 Peso notes
• Optically Variable Ink - 1000 Peso note
• UV Light - All Banknotes

Errors

Several errors have been discovered on banknotes of the New Generation series and have become the subject of ridicule on social networking sites. Among these are the exclusion of Batanes from the Philippine map on the reverse of all denominations, the mislocation of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean Underground River on the reverse of the 500-peso bill and the Tubbataha Reef on the 1000-peso bill, and the incorrect coloring on the beak and feathers of the blue-naped parrot on the 500-peso bill. The scientific names of the animals featured on the reverse sides of all banknotes were incorrectly rendered as well.

According to Design Systemat, the designers of the new bills, that drafts prepared by the company of the new 500-peso bill shows a red beak of the blue-naped parrot. This color was changed by the printers to account for practical printing concerns. The designers further explains that printing banknotes is not like printing brochures. Due to the intalgio printing and limited printing capability of banknote printers, it can only produce a limited full color reproduction.

The alleged mislocation of the Tubbataha Reef on the one thousand peso note was due to a security feature, a smaller version of the featured species on the bills' reverse (which is also featured on all banknote denominations) was located on top of the exact location of the Tubbataha Reef on the map. Giving the option of either moving the key security feature on the standard position or locating the Tubbataha marker correctly, the bills' French printers, Oberthur Technologies, decided to move the reef marker slightly south on the Philippine map.

History

For more information, see History of Philippine money in the English Wikipedia

The Isabella peso or peso fuerte

The Isabelline peso, more formally known as the peso fuerte, was a unit of account divided into 100 céntimos (equivalent to 8 reales fuertes or 80 reales de vellón). Its introduction led to the Philippines' brief experiment with the gold standard, which would not again be attempted until the American colonial period. The peso fuerte was also a unit of exchange equivalent to 1.69 grams of gold, 0.875 fine (0.0476 XAU), equivalent to ₱1,390.87 (refers to the modern peso; as of September 2015).

Coin production at the Casa de Moneda de Manila began in 1861 with gold coins (0.875 fine) of three denominations: 4 pesos, 2 pesos, and 1 peso. On March 5, 1862, Isabel II granted the mint permission to produce silver fractional coinage (0.900 fine) in denominations of 10, 20, and 50 centimos de peso. Minting of these coins started in 1864, with designs similar to the Spanish silver escudo.

American Colonial Period (1901-1945)

After the United States took control of the Philippines, the United States Congress passed the Philippine Coinage Act of 1903, established the unit of currency to be a theoretical gold peso consisting of 12.9 grains of gold 0.900 fine (0.026875 XAU), equivalent to ₱2,933.07 modern pesos of as of 22 December 2010.

The act provided for the coinage and issuance of Philippine silver pesos substantially of the weight and fineness as the Mexican peso, which should be of the value of 50 cents gold and redeemable in gold at the insular treasury, and which was intended to be the sole circulating medium among the people. The act also provided for the coinage of subsidiary and minor coins and for the issuance of silver certificates in denominations of not less than 2 nor more than 10 pesos.

Commonwealth Period (1935-1946)

When the Philippines became a US Commonwealth in 1935, the coat of arms of the Philippine Commonwealth were adopted and replaced the arms of the US Territories on the reverse of coins while the obverse remained unchanged. This seal is composed of a much smaller eagle with its wings pointed up, perched over a shield with peaked corners, above a scroll reading "Commonwealth of the Philippines". It is a much busier pattern, and widely considered less attractive.

Modern currencies (1946-present)

Pilipino Series

The Pilipino series banknotes is the name used to refer to Philippine banknotes issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1969 to 1973, during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos. It was succeeded by the Ang Bagong Lipunan Series of banknotes, to which it shared a similar design. The lowest denomination of the series is 1-piso and the highest is 100-piso. This series represented a radical change from the English series. The bills underwent Filipinization and a design change.After the declaration of Proclamation № 1081 on September 23, 1972, the Central Bank demonetized the existing banknotes (both the English and Pilipino series) on March 1, 1974, pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 378.[13] All the unissued banknotes were sent back to the De La Rue plant in London for overprinting the watermark area with the words "ANG BAGONG LIPUNAN" and an oval geometric safety design.

Ang Bagong Lipunan series

The Ang Bagong Lipunan Series (literally, ”The New Society Series") is the name used to refer to Philippine banknotes issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1973 to 1985. It was succeeded by the New Design series of banknotes. The lowest denomination of the series is 2-piso and the highest is 100-piso. After the declaration of Proclamation № 1081 by President Ferdinand Marcos on September 23, 1972, the Central Bank was to demonetize the existing banknotes in 1974, pursuant to Presidential Decree 378. All the unissued Pilipino Series banknotes (except the one peso banknote) were sent back to the De La Rue plant in London for overprinting the watermark area with the words "ANG BAGONG LIPUNAN" and an oval geometric safety design. The one peso note was replaced with the two peso note, which features the same elements of the demonetized "Pilipino" series one peso note. On September 7, 1978, the Security Printing Plant in Quezon City was inaugurated to produce the banknotes. And a minor change of its BSP seal.

New Design Series

The New Design Series (NDS) was the name used to refer to Philippine banknotes issued from 1985 to 1993; it was renamed the BSP series when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was established in 1993. It was succeeded by the New Generation Currency (NGC) banknotes issued on December 16, 2010. The NDS/BSP banknotes were no longer in print and legal tender after December 31, 2015. The NDS/BSP notes was demonetized and exchanged with NGC notes in 2016; all will be withdrawn from circulation originally scheduled by January 1, 2017. The demonetization was however extended until December 29, 2017 after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas approved the extension due to public clamor.

New Generation Currency (current)

In 2009, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that it has launched a massive redesign for current banknotes and coins to further enhance security features and improve durability. The members of the numismatic committee include BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo and Ambeth Ocampo, Chairman of the National Historical Institute. The new banknote designs feature famous Filipinos and iconic natural wonders. Philippine national symbols will be depicted on coins. The BSP started releasing the initial batch of new banknotes in December 2010.

New Generation Currency Coin Series (current)

In November 2017, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas introduced the New Generation Currency 5-peso coin which was part of the New Generation Currency Coin Series. The rest of the denominations was introduced in March 2018. However the 10-centavo coin is not included in this series.

References

• Philippine peso on the English Wikipedia