The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP has launched the New Generation Currency (NGC) Coin Series. The lowest denomination is one centavo or isang sentimo and the biggest denomination is ten pesos. See picture above for reference.
With the new coins introduction, some quarters are angry at the government for spending money to produce P0.01 coins (one centavo) when the value is practically, nothing.
There are also some who are just plain curious and some who finds having the one cent coin is funny. Whatever the reason why you landed on this post, iSensey will try to explain why the BSP must produce the one centavo coin.
NEW GENERATION CURRENCY COIN SERIES
*There are many Filipinos who have expressed disapproval on social media saying that the uniform metallic silver color of the new coins will make it hard to distinguish one from the other especially in dim lights like inside jeepneys.
Do you have any one centavo in your possession right now?
These are the demonetized one centavo coins from the (1) English Series, (2) Pilipino Series, (3) Ang Bagong Lipunan Series, and (4) Flora and Fauna Series.
This is the isang sentimo in circulation right now from the BSP Coin Series (1995 to Present); this one centavo coin might be demonetized soon with the introduction of the Philippines New Generation Currency Coins Series 2018 or the NGC Coin Series.
One of the reasons for the existence of the one centavo
Here is one example:
In most likelihood and especially if you are young, you haven’t seen a real one centavo coin because this coin is not really out there circulating in the hands of the public. If you are a millennial, your parents might have seen and grew up with the now demonetized P0.01 coin featuring Datu Lapu Lapu.
Regular folks like you and us will most likely not use the one centavo ever but there are some groups who badly need the coin. Who are these? These are the bankers and those who work in financial institutions that deals with the exchange of money.
Ang isang sentimo ay kailangan pambalanse (as needed), at the end of the day by a teller or banker. To better explain this, iSensey will share a scenario.
You go to a bank, say Banco de Oro, Metrobank, Security Bank, China Bank, Union Bank, etc, bearing a check (cheque) worth P2,103.99 and you want to “encash” this. You approach a teller, the teller processes your check encashment and gives you P2,104 (not the exact P2,103.99).
After your transaction, the teller will be short by P0.01. What normally happens next is that the teller will get one centavo or isang sentimo from his/her safekeeping, put this in his/her box to stay “balance” at the end of the work day.
Every day, a banker or a teller needs to account for all the money that gets-in and gets-out. The amount remaining in his or her possession at the end of the work day must be exactly the same as recorded in the bank system.
If he or she is “dis-balance” or disbalanse and he/she can’t find the source of figure disbalance, the teller or new accounts needs to make a report about the overage or shortage. Yes, even if ang kulang or sobra is isang sentimo lang.
Now, a report of disbalance is a mark against the performance of the teller. That’s how important the one centavo is to someone who works in the bank and other financial institution.
This is also one reason why the government needs to spend money to produce isang sentimo kahit wala na talaga syang halaga sa karaniwang tao.
Another reason…
In the Philippines, there are still lots of products and services express up to the last centavo. Go to the department stores, check the prices, it is not uncommon to see a price like P199.99. Also, there are bills which list the amount due to the last cent, example “P325.98”.
If for some reason you landed with the one centavo, you may want to keep it since the chance of you getting another one is slim. Yung isang sentimo ay hindi sya normally pinapa circulate kasi konti lang pinoproduce ng BSP of this denomination.
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