Fake $100 Bill Featuring Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Resurfaces
The fake $100 note is created using online picture editors, where any image can be added to the template of note.
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A $100 note featuring Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is being shared on social media with a claim that the United States has declared 19 February as ‘World Chhatrapati Day.’
This claim has been circulating on the internet since 2018.
(archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)
What's the truth?: This is a fake dollar bill and no such day has been declared by the US.
The fake $100 note was created using online photo editors, which allow one to add any image to a pre-designed template of the currency note.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search and found no credible news reports of the US declaring any such commemorative day or changing their currency.
A list of commemorative days observed in the US as of 2025, can be found here.
It does not include 'World Chhatrapati Day' on 19 February, which is celebrated as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti in India.
We also found one of the official websites of the US court of appeals, and their holiday list also did not include anything related to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
(Source: website/Screenshot)
Only the Government of Maharashtra has marked 19 February as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.
Further, we also found several online image editors, such as ‘photolab’ and ‘photofunia’ that allow users to create fake $100 notes, using any image they like with pre-designed templates.
To test this, we tried adding an image of an animated character, Wall-E, to the note and it gave us the same results as the viral one.
The viral image also carries the same series number 'CL 01985909 B'.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
Another site carried as an example with singer Drake's face on a $100 bill and the series number matched here too.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
According to the US government website, the $100 note has been changed four times since 1914 and has always had Benjamin Franklin’s image on it.
There have been no changes since 2013 and none of these notes features Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Conclusion: An edited image featuring Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on $100 bill is going viral as real.
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