Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Cent Camp Beale; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Camp Beale Prisoner of War Canteen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944-1946 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Black letterpress text on buff paper with a large red overprinted 'W' watermark-style letter at left. A serial number appears in the lower left panel. At right, a red-printed numeral '1' within a decorative border box, with 'CENT' below in a banner, forming the denomination panel. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PRISONERS of WAR CANTEEN Camp Beale, Calif. VOID IF DETACHED 1 CENT W |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Camp Beale, located north of Marysville in California's Sacramento Valley, held Axis prisoners — primarily German — under the Geneva Convention framework that required the U.S. Army to provide canteen facilities where POWs could spend their wages. Prisoners earned 80 cents per day for labor, paid in scrip rather than U.S. currency, which prevented the notes from being useful for escape attempts or black market dealings in the civilian economy.
Camp Beale scrip was produced locally and crudely — these are not engraved notes. The paper and printing quality reflects wartime expediency, and low denominations like this 1 cent piece saw the heaviest use in daily canteen transactions, which is why intact survivors in any decent state are harder to find than the higher values.