Secrets of the Philippine Peso

The brightly coloured Philippine Peso tell the country's history and explore its natural wonders and native wildlife. In this video, I take a closer look at their secrets and hidden features, and at the rare 200 peso note, often dubbed the $2 bill of the East.
Instagram: @halfasleepchris

[HalfAsleepChris]

Can you spot the blinking banknote?! A massive thank you to Julian for the old-style 100 Peso note and to Jeryn for the coins, plus everyone who’s sent me $2 bills! Apologies if I pronounced anything wrong in this video - I tried my best!

[PlanetaryFacts]

Whenever I see a 200 peso bill, I'm compelled to save it and not spend it. They are just so rare to me.

[Nouno]

him: **shows bright pictures of Filipino bills**

the 20 peso bill in my pocket: **faded and crumpled into a lifeless piece of paper because of constant butt squashing torture**

[paultumaliuan]

Just another fun fact:

Look at the reverse side of the banknotes. See the large number located on the right side that says the face value of the note?
The strip thing behind it is a sample of Philippine Indigenous Weaving Patterns.

20 Peso bill - Cordillera Weave Design
50 Peso bill - Batangas Embroidery Design
100 Peso bill - Bicol Textile Design
200 Peso bill - Visayas Weave Design
500 Peso bill - Southern Philippines Cloth Design
1000 Peso bill - T'nalak ("Dream Cloth") pattern

[Jiggabyte_Alpha]

The ₱1000 (we use ₱) had been redesigned this year using polymer. Previously, “abaca”, an indigenous plant related to the banana, has been used in banknotes from 2010. And now, the BSP (Central Bank of the Philippines) is asking users to minimize folding by using “longer wallets” or wallets designed to keep bills straight. They should have used polymer on ₱50 and ₱100 bills instead, like Malaysia did with their RM1 and RM2 bills, because these denominations are more commonly used (₱20 might soon be discontinued).

[jigogan]

An interesting thing to add to the colorful set of the Philippine peso was that thirty years ago, there was a note for ten pesos that was brown and also the five peso note that was green (considering that the 200 note did not exist back then)

[bernardchua]

20 peso bill: Has lots of hidden features and rich history.

9 year old me: haha 20 pesos go fishball.

[azuredesuuu]

Youtuber: Mentions Filipinos
Filipinos: Who awakens us?

[BertLeyson]

It was pretty cool to see one of my countries currencies in your video. Thanks for showcasing the wonders of the Philippines in this channel!

[foresstfire]

Chris: Filipino banknotes are very colorful and beautiful

12 year old me: Haha fold money to make funny Manuel L Quezon face

[vincejacob]

The fact that the 200 peso is green makes me think they're like emeralds primarily because it's rare

[jacobmonteverde]

Sees a Foreign Youtuber post about the Philippines

Filipinos: We got baited again.

[whiskers]

Hi chris thank you for doing a video of my country im very proud

[tprandomvideo]

I am from the Philippines and handle money regularly, this is my insight of the perceived rarity of the 200 peso bill.

The 200 peso is "rare" because its re-issue is relatively new (re-issued in 2002). Plus on the time it was released, the first design's reverse contained the image of then incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, which was dissed because it was deemed a politicking move for the 2004 presidential election.

Also the Filipinos were so not used to the 200 denomination it was deemed inconvenient. When the 500 peso was released in 1987 due to the depreciating peso. It was the largest bill over the 100 peso. Filipinos were so used to handling 100s and 500s that it seemed unnecessary to have a 200 bill. When the 200 was re-issued, we felt awkward or surprised that there is a piece or two of 200 mixing with 100s and 500s, which meant people kind of hated them.

The central bank prints bills by demand. Its unpopularity with the citizens and too low demand for the 200 forced the central bank to produce only 5 million for its first year, and it was never printed in 2005, 2006, and 2012, and was only printed in very small numbers for 2008 and 2010 series. Even with the new series, printing figures was so low that around only 8-10% of all Philippine banknotes come in the form of 200s.

This perceived rarity also contributed to hoarding of this bills just like the two dollars. Often it was used for personal savings, as a wallet lucky charm, emergency cash, or just as a store of value like gold. You will frequently find some savings of Filipino people are all in 200 peso bills.

Those above mentioned factors are what I think the reasons why that bill is "rare" in circulation.

[emiimiiii]

200 pesos: *is rare*

6 year old me: I’d like to exchange this piece of paper for some chocolate

[thehat]

When you have a one billion dollar typo.

[paigefrancisco]

You’re right about the 200 Peso. I went to the Philippines and I never saw one. I love this video! It’s amazing!

[agbarugo]

Php 200 is rare possibly because it's the "newest" denomination. The 500 and 200 bills were removed from circulation in 1959; the 500 was reintroduced in 1987 but the 200 was not returned until 2002. That's 43 years without it circulating.

Furthermore, 200 is in an awkward spot. We have 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 bills. All of them (except 200) are easily "converitble" to each other (for example, 10 pieces of 100 can make 1000). However, the 200 bill has a gap: you can't make 500 from 200 without having to use another bill. This might seem like a small limitation, but when you think about the many, many transactions done with physical banknotes throughout a country of 110 million people, this little issue becomes huge.

[DennisFontanilla]

You missed one historical detail embedded in all notes. The inclusion of “Baybayin” or the pre-colonial ancient writing script of the Philippines. One half of it (horizontally) is shown on each side of all notes. It may look like a random doodle for some.

[norikjz]

just for additional info:
near the bottom right of the front side of every bill, there's baybayin(old script used by the early people of the Philippines) written on it which means "Pilipino"
it's more noticeable when a light is shined upon the small area