Counterfeit $5 sábanas Types 1 and 2
Counterfeit $5 sábanas Types 1
The characteristics listed in the notice of 21 March 1914 are
| GENUINE | COUNTERFEIT |
|---|---|
| letters are thicker (más gruesos) | |
| ink is blacker | |
| edging frame is made up of plates so slight breaks in corners | edging is continuous in the corners |
| Chao’s signature stroke ends in a thick flourish | Chao’s signature ends in a lump (bola o nudo) |
| Tesorería seal is rubber and handstamped so details are blurred | seal is of metal, usually steel, so details are perfect |
Apart from the difference in Chao's signatures these could be the same as counterfeit Type 2 below.
In December 1914 some of these were still in circulation.
Counterfeit $5 sábanas Type 2
The characteristics listed in December 1914 are
| GENUINE | COUNTERFEIT |
|---|---|
| paper noticeably thinner | |
| ‘5’s of ‘5 CINCO PESOS 5’ are thicker and broader | |
| the small dots that form the background are symmetrical: impression of small semi-circle in the lower centre | small dots are ill formed and not symmetrical : in the lower centre the suggestion/impression of a small semi-circle is missing |
| border of thick and thinner black lines made up of plates so various breaks, especially in the corners | border of thick and thinner lines lithographed as a single piece |
|
seal is of rubber and hand-stamped, so details are blurred |
seal is of metal, usually steel, so details are perfect |
whilst the notice of 24 March 1914 lists:
| GENUINE | COUNTERFEIT |
|---|---|
| Rubber seal, printed in black ink | Steel seal, printed in purple ink, without a bar after ‘CHIHUAHUA’ |
| Small joints at the corners and various parts of edging | Edging appears continuous |
| Background is more vivid (más subido) | |
| Red numbering differs in form and size | Red numbering is uniform |
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| Signatures thicker | |
| No comma after ‘Tesorero General del Estado’ or ‘Interventor’ | |
| Occasionally ‘Gobernado’ |
These are the notes in the Alvarado case, where the characteristics are given as:
| GENUINE | COUNTERFEIT |
|---|---|
| Thicker lettering | |
| Blacker ink | |
| Exterior design is156½mm by 75¾mm | Exterior design is 156½mm by 74½mm |
| Interior thick line is 144mm by 73mm | Interior thick line is 143½mm by 72mm |
| At right red “No” | Black “Núm” |
| Background formed by small regular squares, in darker ink | Dots are irregular, and lighter |
| Vargas’s signature thicker | |
| Word “Interventor” is hardly legible |
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| Comma after 'VALIDO' | No comma after 'VALIDO' |
| Occasional breaks in the eadging, particularly in the corners | Edging is blacker, thicker and formed by a single line |
| Seal is rubber and applied by hand, so details of the eagle and lettering are blurred In seal 'TESORERIA GENERAL' is between two bars |
Seal is metal and imprinted, so details are equal and distinct No bar after 'GENERAL' |
These notes with the metal seal and continuous frame also have no comma after ‘Chihuahua’ and no full stop after the date ‘1913’: as these make fine examples they are quite common in collections.
As listed in the March notice, occasionally ‘Gobernado’ appears in place of ‘Gobernador’.
