The Japanese flooded the Philippines Islands with their worthless occupation currency during WWII. At the end of the war, many Filipinos had thousands of pesos that were without value. In the hope that the money would be redeemed by the United States or the new Philippine Government, an organization called the Japanese War Notes Claimants Association of the Philippines (JAPWANCAP) began overprinting the notes in purple or black ink in 1953. The organization gathered and held the notes, provided receipts to the owners, and marked the notes with various stampings. There are four major shapes of overprints; a large oval (71 x 56mm), a small oval (59 x 36mm), a small fat oval (55 x 40mm) and a circular overprint (38mm). Within the four shapes, there are generally recognized to be nine texts, some with very minor differences. These are not propaganda overprints and they add no value to the banknotes. They are collectible only as a conversation piece and oddity.

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur ordered the circulation of several hundred million counterfeit Japanese war notes to be used by Allied Forces to support U. S. intelligence agents and by the Filipino resistance movement. Another purpose was to sabotage and wreak havoc on the economy of the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. The JAPWANCAP sought: reimbursement of the counterfeit JIM in its possession; redemption by the U. S. of the non-counterfeit JIM and payment by the U. S. of its claims against Japan for the lost of human life and physical destruction.

How much did the United States Govenment pay to holders of the "claimant" banknotes?

"Zero". The U. S. Government never paid the holders of the Japanese currency one cent. The U. S. courts decreed that the statue of limitations had passed. By using this "loophole", the courts were able to avoid the difficult issue of determining the validity of the claims.