20 Pesos Mountain, Victory

Issued under Commonwealth authority during the Japanese occupation, these notes were printed in Washington and airdropped — or smuggled in by submarine — to guerrilla units operating in the Philippine interior. The "Mountain" series, so called because its distribution was largely confined to resistance-held upland areas, functioned as both currency and a political statement: the Commonwealth government-in-exile asserting that it, not the Japanese-installed Executive Commission, held legitimate fiscal authority.

The Victory overprint was applied in anticipation of liberation. Notes that actually circulated among guerrilla networks often show heavy handling; pristine examples typically reflect Washington stockpiles rather than field use.