500 Piso Central Banking

The P#204 series was printed entirely in-house at the BSP's Security Plant Complex — one of relatively few central banks in Southeast Asia to have brought currency production fully under state control rather than contracting to De La Rue or another commercial security printer. The facility in Quezon City has handled Philippine note production since 1978, and by 2009 the Complex had accumulated enough experience that the 500 Piso required no foreign technical assistance.

The 500 Piso denomination has historically been a workhorse note in Filipino daily commerce — large enough to matter, too common to hoard.