MANILA, Philippines–The central bank has the perfect souvenir to help people remember the time the “Pope from the End of the World” came to visit.
Limited-edition commemorative papal coins were released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) this week ahead of the arrival of Pope Francis today.
The first two of four commemorative coins to be minted for the Pontiff’s visit were unveiled on Wednesday. The two coins, with denominations of P50 and P500, will be sold to the public at twice their face value to account for the value of metals used.
Two more coins—a P1,000 coin made of silver and P10,000 coin made of gold—will be released in May, the BSP said.
“As a matter of policy, the BSP commemorates significant events in our country’s history through the minting of coins, medals or overprints on bank notes,” the central bank said in a statement.
Commemorative coins were also issued to commemorate the 1970 visit of Pope Paul VI, and the 1981 and 1995 visits of Pope John Paul II, who was canonized in April 2014.