Denominations
Currently, the SPC produces the following denominations of banknotes for circulation:
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20-Piso |
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200-Piso |
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50-Piso |
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500-Piso |
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Although the production of 5-Piso and 10-Piso notes has been discontinued since 1996 and 2002, respectively, they are still considered legal tender.
Volume of banknotes for printing
The Monetary Board approves the required quantities of banknotes to be produced annually by SPC. The banknote requirements are based on cash operations data, economic indicators as well as the projected needs of the regional cash units of the BSP.
Circulating life of a banknote
The circulating life of banknotes ranges from one to five years, depending on the circulating frequency and cash handling habit of the general public. Since the lower denominations circulate faster, they have a much shorter lifespan than the higher denominations.
Security features of a banknote
The security features of banknotes consist, among others, of security thread, security fibers, watermarks, invisible fluorescent inks, optically variable ink, microprint and moire pattern and iridescent band.
How a banknote is made
The making of a banknote starts with the conceptualization of design. The concept is drawn by an artist into a prototype banknote. Once the prototype is approved, a master die is prepared from which printing plates are produced. Production then takes place involving the following steps:
Litho Printing. Impressions are printed on a rubber blanket cylinder. These are in turn transferred to the sheets of banknote paper. Both sides of the sheets are printed simultaneously with multi-color or rainbow background prints.
Intaglio Printing. After the background colors are printed, engraved features of the banknote are printed at the intaglio machines, which produce the tactile or embossed effect on the banknotes.
Sheet Inspection. The printed sheets are inspected for printing faults. Defective notes are cancelled and incinerated for security reasons.
Numbering. The good sheets go to the numbering machines for the printing of serial numbers.
Tenning. Numbered sheets undergo inspection of every tenth sheet for other printing defects which were not detected earlier.
Finishing. The numbered sheets finally go through finishing which involves cutting into notes, counting, packaging.
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