I went thrift store shopping and brought home a paperback detective novel. Browsing through the pages I noticed a foreign note was used as a bookmark. I will add this to my collection of odd paper currency. 1985 Philippines 5 Pesos. Obverse shows the first President of the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo. The Declaration of the Philippine Independence is on the reverse side. These notes were demonetized in Dec. 2017 and replaced with 5 Peso coins.
Sal…quick reality check for you…as of about 90 minutes ago the exchange rate for the Philippine peso was .0162 USD. Times 5 equals .081 cents. You asked “Now what”…there you go…Spark
Very interesting bookmark. You don't see anything like that often. BTW, did you read the book yet? Bruce
In 1985 the Philippine peso traded 18-19 against the US dollar 5+cents. Now the peso is 61 to to the dollar. Demonetized Banknotes: If you have actual paper bills from 1985 (the New Design Series), they are no longer legal tender for daily transactions. They were demonetized and can only be exchanged for newer currency through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or authorized agent banks. Although I guess if you can exchange them 1-1 then they are still worth 8 US cents.
I think that is great that you scored a free banknote bookmark! I have been buying novels/books from several local thrift stores for decades & not once have I got a banknote inside any of them. Here are a couple I picked up after I visited this beautiful country:
Going to get around to reading the book by the end of May, if all goes well. The book is entitled Legwork, by Katy Munger. This is the 3rd piece of currency I have found in different thrift store books (different stores). Also found a 1980s 50 Shilling note from Austria once that I gifted to a fellow collector and a US newer $2.00 note (spent that one) .
I couldn't get a good pic of the watermark, but you got my curiosity up. I did some investigating on the series. That style note started in 1985 & last printing was in 1997. The red serial #s started in 1990. My example is from a regular issue run of over 200 million. The watermark is of the same individual, a portrait of Emilio Aguinaldo. Aside from the regular issue they also made replacement notes, special notes for collectors and 5 commemorative note types with different watermarks. I'll include 2 pics of other 5 Peso notes of the Philippines from numismatics.ph If you look closely, this replacement note shown has the same type watermark mine does (on the left side). A commemorative note with a unique watermark: Lorenzo Ruiz,the first Filipino saint, canonized in 1987 for his martyrdom in Japan.
