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1 Franc - Service des prisonniers de guerre
| Issuer | Ministère de la Guerre - Service des Prisonniers de Guerre |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945-1947 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Franc |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream ground with a pink geometric guilloche underprint of interlocking rosette lattice. The denomination numeral «1» appears at each corner, with «REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE» and the issuing authority inscription above center; «BON POUR 1 FRANC» in bold letterpress across the middle, and a serial number with prefix letter at the base. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Tripartite layout with two columns of regulatory text in French flanking a central orange-gold vignette. The vignette bears the bold numeral «1» set against a decorative wreath of oak and laurel leaves rendered in dark intaglio-style engraving on an ochre ground. |
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| Comments |
The Service des Prisonniers de Guerre was a French government agency responsible for administering German prisoners held in France after the Liberation. These fractional notes were issued as internal camp scrip — legal only within the POW detention network — to allow prisoners to purchase canteen goods without handling official French currency. The scheme also served a bureaucratic function: it created an auditable paper trail for the considerable labor the prisoners provided to French reconstruction efforts, particularly in agriculture and mine clearance.
German POWs remained in French custody well into 1948, far longer than those held by Britain or the United States. This note circulated within that extended detention, not during the war itself.