Counterfeit $1 sábanas

On 4 February 1915 Governor Fidel Avila reported that in some parts of the state, particularly Guerrero, various foreigners were buying cattle, seed etc with counterfeit $1 sábanas^{AMP, Gobierno, Jefatura Politica y Presidencia Municipal, Libros minutarios, AL1213-000-108}.

Counterfeit $1 sábanas Type 1

The notice from Parral on 6 November 1914 list the following characteristics for counterfeit $1 sábanas.

One could add

Known examples are of Series M, numbers 94909 to 99708. The former was revalidated in Toluca.

Counterfeit $1 sábanas Type 2

The characteristics listed in the notice of December 1914 are

GENUINE	COUNTERFEIT
printed from plates	lithographed
	green ink is different colour (an expert could distinguish)
the small dots that form the background are of regular size and form a symmetrical pattern	the small dots vary in size and lack a symmetrical pattern
never used HAMMER BOND paper	majority have HAMMER BOND watermark
	in the top right background where the words ‘UN PESO’ is repeated four times the third ‘S’ is dropped out of alignment and reversed
	the inkdot before the ‘S’ of Sebastian is dropped below the line formed by the base of the signature
Chao’s signature stroke ends in a thick flourish	Chao’s signature ends in a lump (nudo)

Incidentally, the note from which the image of an inverted 'S' was taken does not have any of the other characteristics.

Counterfeit $1 sábanas Type 3

A delightful contemporary counterfeit, but it raises multiple questions as to who its intended clientele was, the social status of the counterfeiters and how long they managed to avoid detection. The shift between ‘B’ and ‘V’ is common in Mexican orthography, and one retrograde ‘N’ could be a simple mistake but for all ‘N’s to be retrograde suggests an unfamiliarity with Spanish or any written language.

The differences in type to the genuine sábanas are obvious but one can highlight

GENUINE	COUNTERFEIT
	different font, case and punctuation
	retrograde ‘N’
GOBIERNO, above inner frame	GOVIERNO, within inner frame