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0.05 Lire Vittoria

Issuer Campo Concentramento Prigionieri di Guerra, Vittoria (Sicilia)
Year 1918
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In circulation to Yes
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Obverse lettering CAMPO CONCENTRAMENTO
PRIGIONIERI DI GUERRA
VITTORIA (Sicilia)
Serie B
Buono per L.0.05
Valevole solo presso i Vivandieri del Campo
Il Ten.te Colonello
Comandante del Campo
Il Capitano
Direttore dei Conti
VITTORIA (Sicilia)
GENNAIO 1918
Reverse description Upper portion occupied by a bird's-eye view vignette of the Vittoria prisoner-of-war camp compound, rendered in fine engraved linework. Lower left bears a heraldic eagle coat of arms with mural crown. Centre cartouche with anti-counterfeiting legend; denomination panel 'LIRE 0.05' at lower right. Printer's imprint at foot: Lit. B. Marchisio e Figli, Torino.
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Vittoria, in the Ragusa province of southeastern Sicily, housed one of Italy's WWI prisoner-of-war camps — primarily Austrian and Austro-Hungarian internees. Camp scrip of this kind was a practical administrative solution: it allowed the military authority to control purchasing within the camp canteen while preventing prisoners from accumulating Italian currency that might facilitate escape or bribery.

The Marchisio lithographic firm in Turin handled several such contracts for Italian military facilities during the war. The logistical gap between the Turin printer and the Sicilian camp it served is worth noting — these small-denomination fractional notes traveled further to reach their point of use than most prisoners ever would.

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