Note of the Month

by Neil Shafer

The VICTORY series of U.S.-Philippine notes was brought into the country by Gen. Douglas MacArthur when U.S. forces invaded Leyte on Oct. 20, 1944.

These notes were in circulation through Philippine independence (July 4, 1946) and until the Central Bank of the Philippines was established (Jan. 3, 1949).

At that moment the country had no paper currency that showed the name of the new bank. The expedient was the overprinting of a quantity of all denominations of VICTORY notes with a two-line red text on back that read CENTRAL BANK / OF THE PHILIPPINES. These notes remained in circulation until newly designed currency with the Central Bank name and 1949 date were issued.

From the condition found on the overprinted VICTORY notes it appears that the overprinting took place on circulated as well as unissued pieces, whatever was available at the time.

The illustrated piece is a replacement note as can be determined by the star following each serial number. A huge error occurred on the back as the red overprinting came out to be upside down—a great error note in its own right. Of course the big bonus is the fact that such a gross error should take place on a replacement note, itself made to replace an earlier piece containing some sort of printing mistake.