No, US Hasn’t Declared 19 February as ‘World Chhatrapati Day’

A fake $100 currency note is viral with the false claim that US declared 19 February as ‘World Chhatrapati Day.’

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A fake $100 note with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s image is being circulated on social media with a false claim that the United States has declared 19 February as ‘World Chhatrapati Day.’

There are no news reports of the US declaring any such commemorative day or changing their currency. The fake $100 note was created using online picture editors, which allow one to add any image to a pre-designed template of the currency note.

CLAIM

The currency note is being shared with this claim in Marathi:

“भारतासाठी एक आनंदाची आणि अभिमानाची बातमी आहे, अमेरिकेने घोषित केले की १९ फेब्रुवारी हा दिवस जागतिक छत्रपती दिन" म्हणून पाळला जावा कारण या दिवशी जगत विख्यात छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज यांचा जन्म झाला आहे. या बद्दल अमेरिकेचे विशेष आभार. हा संदेश आपणास जेवढा पसरविता येईल तेवढा पसरवा. भारताला मिळालेला हा शिवराय यांच्यामुळे आणखी एक मोठा सम्मान आहे.”

(Translation: “It is good news and pride for India that the United States has declared that 19 February should be observed as World Chhatrapati Day because the world famous Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was born on this day. Special thanks to the United States for this. Spread this message as much as you can. This is another great honor for India”)

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The claim has been around since 2018.

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The Quint also received a query regarding the claim on its WhatsApp helpline.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We could find no news reports of the United States declaring 19 February as the ‘World Chhatrapati Day.’ A list of commemorative days observed in the US as of 2019, can be found here. The Library of Congress’ list of commemorative days and months as of 3 November 2020 can also be viewed here.

However, 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.

We noticed that the serial number on the viral $100 note, ‘CL01985909BL12’ matches the template on these sites.

A comparison of the fake $100 note with Shivaji (T) with templates on photofunia and photolab (B)

We also looked up pictures of Shivaji and found the one used in the fake note on a blog, ‘history dekho.’

A comparison of Shivaji’s image on the fake note (L) with the blog’s image (R).

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.

Evidently, a fake $100 currency note is being circulated with the false claim that US has declared 19 February as ‘World Chhatrapati Day.’

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