Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla Currency of World War II - 2nd Edition

-Studied Marine biology-Achieved Ph.D. degree in Biotechnology at University of Karlsruhe, Germany, Dept. of Technical Biology-Author of numerous books and articles about multiple genera of sharks, Water chemistry, climate change impact on aquatic/Antarctic organisms, and for biotechnological methods to cultivate marine organisms for biotechnological use-Currency collector for over 20 yrs. (paper money/coins)-Mainly focused on Indonesian and Philippine currency issued during WWII-Raised intention to update Shafer 1974's 1st edition about 6 to 7 years ago-Collaborated with Neil until his death in Aug. 2023 to publish a 2nd edition of the bookUndertook research at the Smithsonian Institute-Editor of the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (SCWPM) for over 30 years-Pioneering author, researcher, and collector in the field of world paper money-Author of countless numismatic articles and other publications/periodicals including long time columnist for the Bank Note Reporter (BNR)-Life Member for decades of the American Numismatic Association (ANA)-Member of the ANA Hall of Fame, inducted in 2008-Recipient of what was then known as the ANA Farran Zerbe award-Life Member and former President of the International Bank Note Society (IBNS)-Hall of Fame member of the Society of Paper Money Collectors (SPMC)-Author of the 1974 1st edition of Philippine Emergency and Guerilla Currency of World War IIDoctor of Environmental Science & Engineering (UCLA)-Fulbright Fellowship to Taiwan-Author of books & articles on ocean oil spills, oil shale, radioactive waste, electric automobiles, feng shui, music, and numismatics, among other topics-Author's Grant from the Central States Numismatic Society to research "guerrilla money" in the Philippines-Military Numismatic Scholarship to study military currency-Selected as 1 of 3 speaker for both the 49th and 51st California State Numismatic Society Symposium-Specialize in Philippine currency and U.S. dollars

This book documents Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla notes issued during the period of Japanese occupation of the Philippines during WWII, and provides relative rarity ratings throughout. For collectors of Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla currency, this catalog has a big numismatic impact as a consequence of the incredible numbers of notes presented, which are now 80 years old. As many scans as possible of the existing notes are presented here. Valuation guides or rarity ratings for notes are provided throughout. The book not only introduces notes issued by many provinces and the hundreds of municipalities, but also tells the background story of notes printed under difficult circumstances. It also reflects on the guerrilla fighters and the locals supporting them. It lists and cites decades of literature sources and state-of-the-art in investigation of Philippine currency notes issued during WW II. This Edition documents the well-known Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla currency and presents newly discovered notes to the collector community.

With the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese, supplies of currency by the Philippine National Bank (P.N.B.) were interrupted, and an alternative was needed to enable daily commerce to prevent the collapse of payment transfers in unoccupied areas. Therefore, President Quezon authorized the issue of several million pesos. However, many areas were disconnected from this currency supply and were forced to issue unauthorized currency as an emergency measure.This emergency or guerrilla currency was legal tender only in the areas not under control of the Japanese. How these notes were printed is quite an interesting story, as often no printing facilities were available, nor was there a permanent supply with paper or ink. In many cases, carved woodblocks were used for the printing and primitive native dye was used as ink. Many different types of paper were used for notes production, such as wrapping paper, ledger books, newspapers, ballots, and office forms or whatever would serve the purpose. The printing process was often interrupted by dismantling printing equipment to avoid capture by the Japanese, resulting in numerous varieties of notes and patterns.Although some inter-island or inter-province acceptance of guerrilla currency occurred, the notes circulated primarily in their areas of issue, or in adjacent areas only. Because paper and other supplies were severely limited, it was not possible to supply such commodities to municipal governments, local currency boards and smaller military units. They were left to meet their own needs for small change as best they could. Most municipal currency was issued by local civilian officials, with or without authorization. Some guerrilla or military units had no other way to pay local vendors for needed supplies except in promissory notes. Often these pieces cite the backing of the United States to increase their degree of acceptance and guarantee their redeemability. The guerrilla currency notes were widespread, and many of them survived the war. Nonetheless, such notes are much harder to find than provincial issues, as they were printed in such limited quantities. Despite penalties for discrimination against these notes, they never did achieve acceptance on par with regular Philippine banknotes. For the Filipinos, it was a sign of resistance against the invaders when accepting the guerrilla notes for daily exchange.The Japanese government outlawed the possession of emergency or guerrilla currency and declared a monopoly on the issuance of money. Draconian punishments were imposed on anyone found to possess guerrilla notes, including arrest and execution. To be caught by the Japanese in possession of the outlawed notes often caused torture or even execution of the bearer. Despite the announced punishments, especially in free areas or those under control of Allied forces, printing of war notes continued until the surrender of Japan in August 1945.