After a number of ‘faceless’ 100-peso bills were discovered before Christmas, another printing error has has gone viral on social media.
Yesterday (New Year’s Day) Facebook user Emmanuel Claudio Constantino highlighted a 100-peso bill with the face of President Manuel Roxas partially obscured by Mount Mayon, which features on the reverse of the note.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) — the central bank — had already launched an investigation into the original printing error which saw President Roxas entirely absent from a number of notes.
Constantino shared pictures and a video of the note in response to an earlier post by Earla Anne Yehey, who complained that she withdrew faceless 100-peso bills from a Bank of the Philippine Islands ATMs in Eastwood City, Quezon City.
“This is a bit of headache,” Constantino wrote in the caption. He was also at pains to confirm it was genuine, pointing to its serial number and other security features.
Constantino told Philstar.com that the banknote was given as change at a firework shop in Quezon City.
Last Thursday, BSP confirmed that the faceless 100-peso bills were caused by a printing machine error. It said that the number of misprinted bills was “very minimal”.
BSP Managing Director Carlyn Pangilinan added that such bills were only “isolated cases”.
So far, just 33 examples have been reported. Most of them were spotted by staff at various bank branches and remained uncirculated.
However, the BSP has urged the public to refrain from “acts that would cast doubt on the credibility of the country’s legal tender”.
A statement issued by the bank said: “The public is also advised to be vigilant against acts of those who wish to confuse, deceive or illegally profit from posting, producing and/or selling fake ‘misprinted’ notes with no numismatic value.
“The BSP assures the public that it is, and has, always been committed to safeguarding the authenticity and genuineness of our currency and to protecting the public interest.”
Those who find themselves in possession of the note might be wise to quietly store them away. Miss-printed bank notes and postage stamps often prove highly sought after by collectors.
For example, a Swedish Treskilling Yellow — which should have been green — became the most valuable thing in existence by weight and volume when it was sold in 2010 for £1.6 million.