BSP drops 10¢ coins

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is planning to launch the redesigned coins before the end of the year, as it has decided to drop the 10-centavo coin from the roster.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the new generation coins would be rolled out and circulated within the year.

“We are just waiting for the bidding of one of the denominations to materialize and later on we can roll it out. Actually there was one denomination that was dropped. It’s the 10 centavos,” he said.

The existing one-centavo, five-centavo, 10-centavo, 25-centavo, P1 and P5 coins have been in circulation since 1995 while the P10 coin bearing the profiles of Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini in a con-joint manner on the obverse side was issued in 2001.

Guinigundo said the new generation coins would also reflect some security features. “Circulation can also happen in the same time but in a limited capacity,” he said.

The BSP recently completed the demonetization of the old New Denomination Series (NDS) banknotes last June 30. The NDS bills launched in 1985 lost its monetary value last July 1.

The old design banknotes were no longer accepted in day-to-day transactions last Jan. 1 this year but could still be exchanged in banks and BSP offices. The original deadline was set on Dec. 31, 2016 but extended to March 31 and eventually to June 30 due to public clamor.

Last January, the BSP started circulating the New Generation Currency (NGC) banknotes in the market replacing the NDS bills. The NGC series is user-friendly and allows easy identification of each denomination because of the dominant color that uses distinct and primary inks.