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These P20 coins had been released to the public by the BSP since December 2019, but unscrupulous traders sell them online for up to P159 a piece, or four times their face value. PHOTO BY BSP
MANILA, Philippines – On Wednesday (October 7) the central bank warned the public against buying P20 coins from online merchants who advertise that they are in perfect condition and selling them for five to eight times their face value.
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) informed the public that it “has not issued shiny 20-story uncirculated coins” that were sold on digital shopping portals such as Lazada and Shopee.
“The BSP reminds the public to beware of online vendors advertising shiny 20-story uncirculated coins for sale,” the regulator said.
“Uncirculated Shiny” is a term used by collectors to refer to coins that have never been circulated and thus retain their original minty shine, making these items highly priced among numismatics enthusiasts.
According to the BSP, the current new generation 20-story coins had been released to the public since December 2019.
At the end of August 2020, 2.09 million pieces of the 20-Piso coins are in circulation, worth P41.85 million.
“These new-generation 20-story coins are legal tender and can be used as payment for goods and services at face value,” the central bank said.
A cursory search on Lazada’s e-commerce site showed that a seller was offering these mint quality P20 coins for P100 each. Various vendors were offering BSP-issued coins, many of them in their original packaging, which the central bank distributes as commemorative tokens, of various vintages at different prices.
Lazada has since removed the P20 coin page, and the online retailer told ABS-CBN News in a statement that his team “does a daily manual sweep of lists of products that violate existing policies and are removed. when they are identified. “
“We will continue to crack down on sellers who violate the terms and conditions of our platform,” Lazada said.
Online retailer Shopee offers a similar line of BSP-issued coins for sale, including the central bank-quoted P20 coin, which sells for P159 a piece on the shopping platform.
The product page is still active at the time of writing this article.
Edited by TSB
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