BSP to issue commemorative Pope Francis coins

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced Wednesday, January 14 the issuance of the commemorative, limited edition Pope Francis coins.

The legal tender coins come in 50-piso ($1.12*) and 500-piso ($11.20) denominations and will be sold for P100 ($2.24) and P1000 ($21.41) respectively. The coins’ prices are such to cover production, packaging, and other costs.

The coins are minted under a licensing agreement with the Vatican.

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 50-piso and 500-piso coins will be available starting the last week of January 2015.

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

BSP commemorates significant events in our country’s history through the minting of coins, medals, or overprints on our banknotes.

Papal commemorative coins were also issued for the 1970 visit of Pope Paul VI, and for the 1981 and 1995 papal visits of Pope John Paul II.

“Please wait for a confirmation email with the date when you can pay for and pick up the coins at the BSP,” BSP advised.

The coins are not available over the counter and reservation forms may be submitted only until the end of June 2015.

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

$1 = P44.62

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