BSP to produce more Pope Francis coins

MANILA, Philippines – Due to overwhelming public demand, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is minting more special edition coins commemorating the state and pastoral visit of Pope Francis last January.

The increase was approved by the Vatican under an amended licensing agreement with the central bank.

The additional Pope Francis commemorative coins will be available in the next few months as materials needed for the minting and packaging will go through public bidding, the BSP said.

But to avoid oversubscription and per amended agreement with the Vatican, the BSP will close the reservation for the papal coins on Friday, March 13, earlier than the original deadline of June 30, 2015. 

Coin orders placed up to March 6 will be fully served as supply becomes available. 

Orders received thereafter up to March 13 will be served on a pro-rata basis based on the actual remaining inventory, BSP said.

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

The commemorative coins are sold at the following rates:

• 50-piso coin with packaging – P100 ($2.27)
• 500-piso coin in box – P1000 ($22.68)
• 1,000-piso silver coin in box – P3,500 ($79.39)
• 10,000-piso gold coin in box – P25,000 ($566.98)

The 50-piso commemorative coin for Pope Francis is made of nickel brass while the 500-piso is made of nordic gold with gold plating. Featured on both coins are:

On the obverse:

• The portrait of Pope Francis
• The markings:
• “Republika ng Pilipinas” (“Republic of the Philippines”), “Pope Francis”
• Signature of Pope Francis
• The denomination
• Yearmark “2015”
• BSP mint mark

On the reverse:

• The BSP seal
• The markings:
• “Papal Visit/Philippines”
• Date of Visit “January 15-19, 2015”
• Logo of the Papal Visit 2015
• Mini letters “Mercy and Compassion”

The 1,000-piso silver and 10,000-piso gold, papal commemorative coins will also be available by May 2015.

Reservation and pick-up

To reserve, forms may be downloaded from the BSP website, papalcoins.bsp.gov.ph, and sent to papalcoins@bsp.gov.ph.

BSP will issue a confirmation email on the specific date and place of the pick-up. 

The email must be presented as proof of order when claiming the papal coins. 

Payment shall be paid in cash at the BSP cash pepartment and at designated BSP regional or branch office for outside Metro Manila.   

The Pope Francis commemorative coins, to date, is the fastest-selling among the special coins minted by BSP. – Rappler.com


US$1 = P44.09