My First New Philippine Peso Bill

The set of new Philippine Peso bills will be officially released to the public next year 2011. But luckily I just got mine from someone working in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Don't worry nothing illegal happened, they just have the privilege to own first since they work there.

Actually, I only received a 20 pesos bill for free (how I wish it's a 1000 bill) and my first impression was it has that modern look and catchy bright color. If you compare it to the old bill you'll notice the difference on their hue. The front face of the bill is also brighter compared to the back part. Another obvious feature of the new peso bill is that the front face has a smoother texture than its back face.

When you view the front face of the new peso bill against the light and flip it sideways you'll notice the reflection of the light, maybe it's because of the smooth texture of the front face. But if you do it on the back face, there's no reflection on it. This might be another security feature for this new bill.

A new animal is also present in the new 20 pesos bill. It's a Palm Civet, and honestly it's my first time to encounter this animal's name. Well, maybe that's the purpose of these new bills, to inform people about the other hidden treasures of the Philippines.

I also think the new peso bill has more security features now compared to the previous ones. It is also easy to detect if it is genuine by simply touching the small image at the upper left of the front face of the bill. The texture is somewhat slightly rougher compared to other areas. The new bill retains security features from the old bill like the security thread (that's the one that looks like a thick black line inside the bill), the silhouette of the main character (Manuel L. Quezon for the 20 pesos) of the bill which can be seen at the right part of the 20 pesos bill, and the embossed wordings of the amount of the money (which can be checked by rubbing your fingers to it and it has a rough texture).

Overall, I personally like the new Philippine Peso bills mainly because of its modern look, design, and color. And besides I think it is the right time to add some flavor and style to our money. Everyone gets bored with old things, you know.