REVIEW ON

QUESTIONED DOCUMENT
Topic: Counterfeiting
 COUNTERFEITING
- The crime of making, circulating or uttering false coins and bank notes.
- Criminal offense of making an imitation of an article with intent to defraud others
into accepting if as the genuine item.

Counterfeit - is something made to imitate the real thing and used for gain.

Money – Any medium of exchange that is widely accepted in payment of goods and
services and in settlement of debts.

Legal Tender
notes and coins issued and circulating in accordance with R.A 265 as
amended and/or R.A 7653, w/c when offered for payment of public or public debt must be
accepted.

Counterfeit note
an imitation of a legal and genuine note intended to deceive or to be
taken for w/c is original, legal and genuine
Evolution of Philippine Money
 Pre- Hispanic Era – Barter trading was common. Piloncitos, small
bead-like gold bits considered by the local numismatists as the
earliest coin of the ancient Filipinos
 Spanish Era – Philippine money was a multiplicity of currencies :
Mexican pesos, Alfonsino pesos and copper coins
Cobs/ macuquinas – earliest coins brought by the spaniards\
Silver dos mundos/ pillar dollar – one of the world’s most beautiful
coins
Barilla – copper coin woth about 1 centavo –first coin struck in the
country
Pesos Fuertes – issued by the country’s first bank, the El Banco
Espanol Filipino de Isabel II – first paper money circulated in the
country
Evolution of Philippine Money
 Revolutionary period – 1 peso and 5 pesos notes were printed as
Republika Filipina Papel Moneda de Un Peso and Cinco pesos
 American Period – American dollar to peso is 2:1- US Congress
approved the Coinage Act for the Philippines in 1903
- renaming of El Banco Espanol Filipino to Bank of the Philippine
Islands in 1912.
 Japanese occupation – two kinds of notes circulated during this
period (war notes, guerilla notes)
 Philippine Republic – Central Bank of the Philippines was established
in 1949
 Examination of the Paper Bill
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has the sole authority to issue currency
within the Philippine territory

STEPS IN RECOGNIZING GENUINE BSP NOTES

PAPER

Feel the paper – The genuine note is printed on a special kind of paper which is
rough when you run your fingers through it. It does not glow under the ultra-violet
light. During paper manufacture, the watermark, security fibers, security threads
and iridescent band are included.

WATERMARK

Examine the watermark on the unprinted portion of the note

– The watermark is the silhouette of the portrait appearing on the face
of the note. Sharp details of the light and shadow effect can be seen when the note is viewed
against the light. The contours of the features
of the silhouette can be felt by running the fingers over the design on
relatively new notes.
 Examination of the Paper Bill
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has the sole authority to issue currency
within the Philippine territory

STEPS IN RECOGNIZING GENUINE BSP NOTES

SECURITY FIBERS
Inspect the security fibers – Embedded red and blue visible fibers are
scattered at random on both surfaces of a genuine note and can be readily
picked off by means of any pointed instrument.
EMBEDDED SECURITY THREAD
View the embedded security thread
– The embedded security thread is a special thread vertically implanted off
center of the note during paper manufacture. This can easily be seen when
the note is viewed
against the light. It appears as a broken line for 5’s, 10’s and 20’s and straight
line for 50’s, 100’s, 200’s , 500’s and 1000’s.
 Examination of the Paper Bill
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has the sole authority to issue currency
within the Philippine territory

STEPS IN RECOGNIZING GENUINE BSP NOTES

Windowed security thread
― note and the new 200 peso notes the windowed security thread is a narrow
security thread vertically located like “stitches” at the face of the note with a
clear text of the numerical value in repeated sequence and changes in
color from magenta to green or green to magenta depending on the angle
of view.
Iridescent band

– look for the iridescent band on the improved portion of

100’s, 500’s and 1000 peso notes and the new 200 peso
notes. A wide glistening gold vertical stripe with the
numerical value printed in series.
 Examination of the Paper Bill
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has the sole authority to issue currency
within the Philippine territory

STEPS IN RECOGNIZING GENUINE BSP NOTES

Portrait

– appears life-like. The eyes “sparkle”. Shading is formed by the fine lines that
give the portrait a characteristics facial expression which is extremely difficult
to replicate.
Serial number

― composed of 1 or 2 prefix letters and 6 or 7 digits. The letters and

numerals are uniform in size and thickness; evenly spaced and well-
aligned they glow under ultra-violet light. A banknote with six “O”
digits serial is a specimen note and not a legal tender.
 Examination of the Paper Bill
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has the sole authority to issue currency
within the Philippine territory

STEPS IN RECOGNIZING GENUINE BSP NOTES

Background /lacework design

― the background designs are made up of multicolored and well
defined lines. The lace work designs are composed of web-crossing
lines which are continuous and traceable even at the intersection.
Vignette

―the lines and dashes composing the vignette are

fine, distinct and sharp; the varying color gives a
vivid look to the picture that makes it “stand out”
of the paper.
 Examination of the Paper Bill
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has the sole authority to issue currency
within the Philippine territory

STEPS IN RECOGNIZING GENUINE BSP NOTES

Value panel
― check the numerals found out the four corners of the front and
back of the note. The numerals denote the denomination of the
note.
Color
P1000 - Blue (Jose Abad Santos, Josefa Llanes Escoda,
Vicente Lim)
500 - Yellow (Benigno and Cory Aquino)
200 - Green (dark in one side light on the other side)
100 - Mauve (Manuel Roxas)
50 - red (Sergio Osmena)
20 - orange (Manuel Quezon)
Pertinent Laws and Regulations to protect and maintain the
integrity of the Currency

1 .Art. 163, RPC- Making and importing and uttering (issuing or

circulating) false coins.
2. Art. 166, RPC- Forging treasury or bank notes or other
documents payable to the bearer; importing, and uttering
such false coins or forged notes and documents.
3. Art. 168, RPC- Illegal possession and use of false treasury or
bank notes and other instruments of credit.
4. Art. 176, RPC- Manufacturing and possession of instrument
or implements for falsification.
5. PD 247- Defacement, mutilation, tearing, burning or
destruction of Central Bank (BSP) notes and coins.
6. Chapter II, Circular 61, Series of 1995- Reproduction and/or
use of facsimile of legal tender Philippine currency coins.
Pertinent Laws and Regulations to protect and maintain the integrity of the
Currency

Art. 164. Mutilation of coins; Importation and

utterance of mutilated coins.
Art. 169. How forgery is committed. — The forgery
referred to in this section may be committed by
any of the following means:
1. By giving to a treasury or bank note or any
instrument, payable to bearer or order mentioned
therein, the appearance of a true genuine
document
2. By erasing, substituting, counterfeiting or altering
by any means the figures, letters, words or signs
contained therein.
Pertinent Laws and Regulations to protect and maintain the integrity of the
Currency

Art. 171. Falsification by public officer,

employee or notary or ecclesiastic minister. —
The penalty of prision mayor and a fine not to
exceed P5,000 pesos shall be imposed upon
any public officer, employee, or notary who,
taking advantage of his official position, shall
falsify a document by committing any of the
following acts:
Pertinent Laws and Regulations to protect and maintain the integrity of the
Currency

Art. 171.
1. Counterfeiting or imitating any handwriting, signature or rubric;
2. Causing it to appear that persons have participated in any act or
proceeding when they did not in fact so participate;
3. Attributing to persons who have participated in an act or proceeding
statements other than those in fact made by them;
4. Making untruthful statements in a narration of facts;
5. Altering true dates;