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1 Cent Mexia; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Prisoner of War Camp Canteen, Mexia, Texas |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943-1945 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress print on orange paper. The upper portion carries the two-line inscription PRISONER OF WAR CAMP above an oval cartouche enclosing the word CANTEEN in bold letters, with MEXIA, TEXAS below. A cautionary notice NOT GOOD IF DETACHED appears at lower left, with the serial number printed in red to its right. At right, a ruled rectangular panel carries the large numeral 1 over the word CENT. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Unprinted orange paper reverse, completely blank. |
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| Comments |
American POW camp canteen scrip occupies a genuinely odd corner of the notaphilic world, and the Mexia issue is a fine example of why. Camp Canteen currency was introduced across U.S. internment facilities during the Second World War to prevent prisoners — mostly German and Italian — from accumulating regular U.S. currency, which could fund escape attempts or black-market dealings. The scrip was redeemable only within the camp system and worthless outside the wire.
Mexia, Texas hosted a POW facility as part of the broader network that held over 400,000 Axis prisoners on American soil by 1945. The orange paper is characteristic of the Mexia series and may have been a deliberate color coding to distinguish denomination.