Catalog
1 Mark Celle PoW Camp
| Issuer | Offizier-Gefangenenlager Cellelager |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Mark |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain cream paper with a single black-printed word in Gothic (Fraktur) script, printed in mirror image (reversed), positioned in the upper-centre of the note. A perfin cancellation forming the number "130" appears in the lower-right area, applied through the paper. |
| Reverse lettering | Cellelager |
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| Comments |
Celle's officer prisoner-of-war camp issued this note in 1917 under the authority of the Offizier-Gefangenenlager — a category of German PoW facility that held commissioned officers separately, per the Hague Convention's requirement that officer prisoners not be compelled to work. Internal camp currency was the practical solution to managing purchasing power within that closed population, preventing direct use of Reichsmarks that could fund escape attempts.
The perfin is the only security measure — punched holes forming a pattern that made notes difficult to remove from the camp and pass outside. J. P. Himmer of Augsburg, a long-established commercial printer, produced camp currency for multiple German facilities during the war.