BSP to mint papal coins

MANILA, Philippines - More commemorative Papal Visit coins will be minted amid huge demand for the limited edition pieces, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.

“In response to overwhelming public demand, [the BSP] is minting more special edition coins commemorating the state and pastoral visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines last January,” the central bank said in a statement.

“The increase was also approved by the Vatican under an amended Licensing Agreement with the BSP,” the central bank said.

Interested buyers have until March 13 to place their orders for the coins denominated in P50, P500, P1,000, and P10,000 which will all be made available in the “next few months” as the materials for minting and the packaging still need to go through a public bidding.

“The commemorative coins for Pope Francis is the fastest-selling so far among the special coins minted by the BSP,” the central bank said.

The BSP commemorates significant events in the country’s rich history through minting coins, medals, or even overprints on Philippine banknotes.

The order forms are available at the BSP website (www.bsp.gov.ph) and a confirmation e-mail on the date and place for pick-up will be sent to the buyer. All payments shall be paid in cash during pick-up at the Cash Department at the BSP head office in Manila and in regional offices or branches nationwide.

The commemorative Papal Visit coins were made available last Jan. 14, a day before Pope Francis’ visit in Manila and Tacloban.

“The commemorative coins for Pope Francis are all legal tender and are being sold at prices higher than its face value to cover production, packaging and other costs,” the BSP said.

In January, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said an initial 10,000 pieces of the P50-coin and 5,000 pieces of the P500-coin will be made available for circulation.

Guinigundo declined to say how much more the BSP will mint. “We will mint more but just enough to service the demand and preserve the rarity of the Papal coins.”

The BSP earlier issued commemorative coins for the 1970 visit of Pope Paul VI and for the 1981 and 1995 visits of Pope John Paul II.

The 50-peso coin is available for P100, while the 500-peso coin can be purchased at P1,000 at BSP offices. The 1,000-peso silver coin is available for P3,500, while the 10,000-peso gold coin at P25,000, also at BSP offices.

BSP offices will not entertain any over-the-counter purchases as all orders should be placed online.