The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas overhauled its circulating coinage in 1975 under the Ang Bagong Lipunan ("New Society") program — Marcos's rebranding of Philippine civic life following his 1972 declaration of martial law. The small brass sentimos of this period were part of that deliberate remonetization, tying everyday coinage to the authoritarian modernization project.
Brass was chosen partly for cost and partly to distinguish the denomination by color. These circulated heavily through the early Marcos years and survivors in mint state are harder to locate than their mintage figures suggest.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas overhauled its circulating coinage in 1975 under the Ang Bagong Lipunan ("New Society") program — Marcos's rebranding of Philippine civic life following his 1972 declaration of martial law. The small brass sentimos of this period were part of that deliberate remonetization, tying everyday coinage to the authoritarian modernization project.
Brass was chosen partly for cost and partly to distinguish the denomination by color. These circulated heavily through the early Marcos years and survivors in mint state are harder to locate than their mintage figures suggest.