new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin designed to confuse pinoys

i was at McDonald’s and paid for my order. i was getting a 13 peso change – 2 5-peso coins and 3 1-peso coins. the McDonald’s crew called my attention to the coins she was giving me, isolating 2 coins –  “Sir, 5 peso coins po itong dalawa.”

at first i was not sure why she was calling my attention to the coins and making a big deal of the 5 peso coins. i told myself of course i can distinguish a 5 peso coin from  a 1 peso coin – the sizes and colors are different, the 5 peso coin is yellowish and bigger than the 1 peso coin which is silver in color and smaller. the differences are very obvious.

the MacDonald’s crew separated the 2 5-peso coins on the table and pointed them out to me. i looked at them and i realized she had a point. the 5 peso coin looks exactly the same as the 1 peso coin. it was smart of her to point that out to me and i thanked her for her effort.

current 1 peso coin on the left, new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin in the middle which is shinier because it is new and the current 5 peso coin on the right

she gave me 13 pesos in change – 2 new 5 peso coins and 3 1-peso coins. all 5 coins looked the same at first glance – same color and the same size. and since i was familiar with the current 1 peso coin, it would have seemed to me she gave me 5 pesos in change, 5 1-peso coins, instead of 13 pesos.

and that’s the part i don’t get – why did the BSP (Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas) release new 5 peso coins that look almost exactly the same as the current 1 peso coin?

i thought the primary consideration, the very first mandatory in designing coins and paper bills is to have designs that are DISTINCT from other coins and bills in the market. that the looks and size should be very obviously different.

the reason is obvious – you do not want people confusing one coin and bill denomination from another. that is to make sure people do not make mistakes in using their money.

but apparently that was not at all a consideration in the design of the new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin.

the new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin is almost the same in looks and size as the current 1 peso coin. both have the same silver color. (the new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin in the picture above is just much shinier than the 1 peso coin because it is a new coin.)

the size of the 1 peso coin and the new 5 peso coin are almost the same. there is a minute difference with the new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin versus the current 1 peso coin. the new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin is ever so slightly bigger than the 1 peso coin. by looking at them side by side, the naked eye won’t be able to tell the differences in size. you can can tell that the 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin is  bigger if you put the 1 peso coin on top of it and you will see that the minuscule outer ring in the new 5 peso Andres Bonifacio coin shows. that’s it, that is the size difference.

aside from having essentially the same size, what i don’t get it is why did BSP  not have the same yellowish color of the current 5 peso coin to the new 5 coin? having the same yellowish color would have clearly communicated both are 5 peso coins. and one can argue clearly differentiates it versus the 1 peso coin even if they have the same size to the naked eye.

the mandatory design principle in bills is this – have different colors, different graphics, big numbers to denote value and in some countries even have different sizes.

in coins, the mandatory design principle is about the same – have different sizes,  different colors, different graphics and in some different shapes or have 2 toned colors or a hole in one denomination.

but not in the Philippines. the BSP designed a new 5 peso coin that had essentially the same color and same size as the current 1 peso coin that it is really difficult to tell them apart.

why did this happen?