Magnets, Anyone?
(Photo from Wikimedia)
Jeepney drivers and sidewalk vendors must be armed with magnets nowadays. Everyone else should follow suit, too - considering that our coins are now being counterfeited.
Apparently, thieves have found a brilliant way to afford stealing: they’re making false coins (in P5 and P10 denominations) using air compressors and stamping machines. But one can easily tell the difference from the original, provided one has a magnet, and presuming that every Filipino, rich or poor, actually cares. The fake coins have altered metallic properties that make them attracted to magnets. I haven’t read what properties exactly, but it isn’t rocket science to conclude that today’s desperate times are calling for desperate (albeit criminal) measures.
So if you suspect that the contents of your piggy bank are only half-legit, you can have fun spreading them across your bedroom floor and testing their authenticity. Just don’t be surprised if to your magnet, one of the Emilio Aguinaldos sticks.
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Actually all fake ten peso coins are magnetic. Five peso coins may or may not be magnetic, counterfeit or otherwise. Get your facts straight.
Hi there. Thanks for the correction! But really I’m not a journalist, and a blog isn’t where you find people of such trade. I don’t present facts, or at least not indisputable ones. =)
This is the first time I’ve heard of counterfeit P5 and P10 coins. It’s a depressing sign that the economy is continuing to plunge. Anyway, thanks for sharing this info.
depressing indeed. the most screwed up thing is that the koreans (if i remember correctly) denied anything to do with it even if the evidences were clear. saw it on XXX on channel 2.
with all those five hundred and one thousand bills circulating… it makes you wonder why people would go through the trouble of counterfieting coins…
…their probably out to hussle and annoy ordinary pinoys.
Wow, I mean isn’t there a low ROI in forging coins? Anyway, I hope the Central Bank is doing something about this.
Is it just P10 and P5? Aren’t the 25c coins supposed to be magnetic? I’ve kept a magnet in my wallet’s coin purse since time immemorial, and it’s always stuck to the 25c, but never to the other coins.