January 18, 2011

BSP Error Notes? What's the big deal?

The newly re-designed notes have not been mostly welcomed by critics and end-users alike mainly due to aesthetic reason and technical reason otherwise. Most critics are particularly pointing-out that the new bills have wrongly written the scientific names of the animals displayed or misplaced some geographical locations in the map of the Philippines.








For example: Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

For example: Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi or Pithecophaga jefferyi)






"Isasaayos 'yan kung may pagkakamali (We will correct the mistakes)," he said in a radio interview.







Paper money need not be aesthetically appealing in order to be considered proper for circulation. In the first place, money was produced without the intention of both public admiration and display but more of a simplified tool for expediting trade.

In our past especially during the time of World War 2, guerrilla notes were produced using either substandard or improvised equipment like typewriters or mimeographing machines and crude or mainly used paper like ballots, old documents, and pieces of old notebooks. The reasons for producing such notes was to counter Japanese economic rule by propaganda and acquire supplies from either both civilians and United States forces.

What makes some Philippine Guerilla notes unique from other notes are its simple but effective security features, which are the 3 signatures from three highest ranking officials in command of the guerrilla unit. These kind of approach are particularly exemplified in notes issued in the island of Samar.
Other guerrilla notes have either used inks that are very hard to imitate or paper ephemera which particularly made it unique. Such example is the 20 centavos Tacloban-Leyte issue which utilized old sample ballots.


In 1983, the scientific name of the Philippine eagle was wrongly minted on a 50-centavo coin deficting the Philippine Monkey-Eating eagle and the 10-centavo with the smallest fish from lake Buhi. The scientific name of the Philippine eagle is Pithecophaga jefferyi and pandaka pygmeae, but the central bank wrongly minted it as “Pithecobhaga jefferyi" and “pandaka pygmea” respectively.

Yet even though the scientific names spelling were corrected, they were not italicized as suggested by today's critics.

Other claims regarding geographical corrections should have been more retroactive, that it should have added the map of SABAH in BORNEO because the Philippines has a strong territorial claim to the island of Sabah against the government of Malaysia and setting aside otherwise the Kalayaan group of islands which is inside the Philippine territorial waters.

Personally, critics of the new notes have undermined other technical importance in favor of what they are only aware of. Money is a tool and not an ambassador of tourism. If the BSP will favor too much technicality, this piece of paper is not enough to enclosed our complicated history and and anomalous political and social structure and agenda.

The BSP's intention of printing new money is an answer to current currency wars being implemented by other powerful nations. The purpose of printing money is part of fiscal policy to ease up our debt and balance our budget. Our current notes maybe of unappealing to most of us but it is safe enough to say that it is doing its purpose.

1 make comments on this post:

lunaticg said...

Its a big deal to numismatic world. Everyone is waiting for this notes to be circulated since its already an error notes. Eventhough it will not get circulated, people still wish that the error notes will go out because it will get a high price from us, the collector.

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