Rather than keep this buried in an unrelated thread, I thought I would start a new one on how to locate the diagnostics to determine the Japanese Military Peso notes counterfeited by the Allies. The counterfeits are all from the first series of notes. In the images below, the genuine note is on the left and the counterfeit on the right. 50 centavos - the diagnostic is just below the upper right counter on the face. The curved line below the counter is solid on genuine notes but broken on the counterfeit. 1 peso - the diagnostic is in the scrollwork of the upper left counter. The fingers below the three circles are separate on the original but come together on the counterfeit. 5 peso - the diagnostic is below the upper right counter. The curved lines below the counter are separate on the original but come together on the counterfeit. 10 peso - the diagnostic is above the upper left counter on the back. There is a small tick mark that appears between the 1 and 0 in 10 on the counterfeit that is not there on the genuine.
You mention the Allies counterfeits. Which particular country was engraving and printing these counterfeits, or was it several printers and countries ?
They were counterfeited to be used during the Japanese occupation by guerrilla groups and US operatives. The US also printed pre-war pesos and had them artificially aged so they would not be suspicious. The notes were carried to the Philippines by submarine along with other supplies.
Very nice write-up and it is an interesting topic that I hadn't considered before. I found Wikipedia's short section on the counterfeit bills; here is what they had to say. The U.S. counterfeited notes throughout the war partly in an attempt to destabilize the local economy, thereby demoralizing the Japanese, and to supply guerrillas fighting the Japanese. General MacArthur asked the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to replicate the Japanese currency in the Philippines for his eventual return. By luck, a supply of paper made from plants native to Japan was located in the U.S. When that supply was exhausted the counterfeiting operation was transferred to Australia. In 1943 MacArthur requested and received the following counterfeited notes; five million 10-Peso notes, three million 5-Peso notes, one and a half million 1-Peso notes and five hundred thousand 50 centavo notes. The American forgeries are known to have the following block letter codes: 50 Centavo bills - PA, PB, PE, PF, PG, PH and PI 1 Peso bills - PH 5 Peso bills - PD 10 Peso bills - PA, PB, and PC Counterfeit Japanese Invasion Money was produced by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), at the time Australia's central bank. Recently discovered correspondence from the Netherlands Indies Commission to the Governor, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, on 5 October 1942 shows a request of nearly 70,000 pieces of counterfeit scrip in varying denominations. A follow-up letter three months later has a request for another 70,000 pieces of counterfeit scrip as the previous supply "proved to be very useful" and was exhausted.
I would, too. I have seen an OSS counterfeit of the Burma 10 rupee note in person. It was on a short snorter. I have only seen images of the others in books.
I realize this is a several years old thread, but I am doing some research on these counterfeit notes, and one thing I cannot seem to discover is where in the U.S. such notes were printed, before the operation moved to Australia. Do you have any info or leads on this? Thanks so much!
Researchers have been trying to answer this since the information about counterfeiting came out in the early 1960s. The BEP denied that its facilities were used. One source indicates the BEP was contacted and it may have provided technical assistance.
Thanks! Best I've come across is a second-hand report that the OSS had a printing operation in DC during the War and printed them there. That same account did reference possible BEP expertise helping out. Really appreciate you getting back to me.
The source for this is Stanley Lovell's book Of Spies and Strategems. Writing 20 years after the fact, Lovell may not have gotten all the information entirely correct. Counterfeit Burma and Malaya JIM were used by OSS and SOE. Counterfeit Philippine JIM came through MacArthur's HQ, not OSS channels. Because of this, there may have been two different printing operations in the US.
Below is something I found on psywarrior.com, written by SGM (Ret) Herbert Friedman. I did find a couple sources that concur that the request for the Philippine counterfeits did come from MacArthur; one suggested that he intentionally moved the operation to Australia to get out from under OSS. Very likely the Japanese occupation notes for the Philippines were counterfeited by Major Willis C. Reddick who once told me that he had established an O.S.S. forgery plant in Washington D. C. at 25th and E Streets, using paper from the Byron Weston Company in Massachusetts. He also established an OSS printing plant in London, England. Reddick became friendly with employees of the Bureau of Engraving and also was able to pick draftees with printing experience from basic training units in the Army.
Just as the Germans did in Sachsenhausen, the OSS forged many things - - identity papers, ration cards, military passes, etc. It was all printed somewhere.
Indeed! Thank you again for getting back with me so quickly. Maybe one day the mystery will be solved ....
