During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, the occupying Japanese government issued a

fiat currency Fiat money (from la, fiat, "let it be done") is a type of currency that is not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver. It is typically designated by the issuing government to be legal tender. Throughout history, fiat money was sometime ...

in several denominations; this is known as the Japanese government-issued Philippine peso (see also

Japanese invasion money Japanese invasion money, officially known as Southern Development Bank Notes ( ''Dai Tō-A Sensō gunpyō'', "Greater East Asia War military scrip"), was currency issued by the Japanese Military Authority, as a replacement for local currency afte ...

). The

Second Philippine Republic The Second Philippine Republic, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines ( tl, Repúbliká ng Pilipinas; es, República de Filipinas; ja, フィリピン共和国, ''Firipin-kyōwakoku'') and also known as the Japanese-sponsored Phi ...

under President José P. Laurel outlawed possession of guerrilla currency, and declared a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

on the issuance of money, so that anyone found to possess guerrilla notes could be arrested or even executed. Some Filipinos called the fiat peso "

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

money". Many survivors of the war tell stories of going to the market laden with suitcases or "''bayóng''" (native bags made of woven coconut or '' buri'' leaf strips) overflowing with the Japanese-issued bills. According to one witness, 75 "Mickey Mouse" pesos, or about 35 U.S. dollars at that time, could buy one duck egg. In 1944, a box of matches cost more than 100 ''Mickey Mouse'' pesos. These bills were often used by American

psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

personnel as propaganda leaflets. Japanese occupation banknotes were overprinted with the words "The Co-prosperity Sphere: What is it worth?", in an attempt to discredit the

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere The , also known as the GEACPS, was a concept that was developed in the Empire of Japan and propagated to Asian populations which were occupied by it from 1931 to 1945, and which officially aimed at creating a self-sufficient bloc of Asian peo ...

, and dropped from Allied aircraft over the occupied territories. Japanese government-issued Philippine fiat peso with overprinting

Counterfeit notes

The U.S. counterfeited notes throughout the war partly in an attempt to destabilize the local economy, thereby demoralizing the Japanese, and to supply guerillas fighting the Japanese.

General MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

asked the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

(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.Arlie Slabaugh, Japanese Invasion Money by Hewitt’s Numismatic Information Series (Chicago Press, 1967) 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.WW II Allied Propaganda Banknotes
/ref> 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

Denominations

1942 series

1943–1945 series

A new series of notes in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 pesos were issued in 1943.

Hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

also forced the Japanese to issue notes for 100, 500 and 1000 pesos in 1944.

References

External links

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas - Official website of the Bangko Sentral ng PilipinasPhilippine Currency During WWII
{{Portal bar, Money, Numismatics, Philippines, War, World War II Peso