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1 Cent McAlester; PoW Camp
| Issuer | McAlester Prisoner of War Camp Canteen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944-1946 |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Obverse description | Printed on orange stock in black and red letterpress. A bold black rectangular border frames the design; the heading TRADE COUPON appears in large black capitals across the top. A red oval vignette at centre carries the denomination 1 Cent in white text, flanked by the inscriptions GOOD FOR to the left and IN TRADE to the right. The issuer name McAlester Prisoner of War Camp Canteen is set in black type in the lower centre, while a vertical serial number and the caveat NOT GOOD IF DETACHED appear along the right margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | TRADE COUPON GOOD FOR 1 Cent IN TRADE McAlester Prisoner of war Camp Canteen NOT GOOD IF DETACHED |
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| Comments |
McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in Oklahoma housed one of the larger German prisoner of war camps in the continental United States during and after the war. The canteen scrip issued there — including this 1 cent denomination — was a deliberate control mechanism: prisoners could earn wages under the Geneva Convention (10 cents per day for enlisted men) but could not be paid in U.S. currency, which might facilitate escape attempts.
The scrip was redeemable only within the camp canteen system and worthless outside the wire. Some denominations from McAlester and comparable camps survived in quantity because German POWs, anticipating repatriation, tucked notes away as souvenirs rather than spending them down.