Catalog
1 Mark Halle P.O.W. Camp
| Issuer | Kommandantur des Offizier-Gefangenenlagers Halle a. S. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Mark |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 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 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Entirely plain, showing the unprinted bright magenta-pink coated cloth substrate with no text, ornamentation, or overprint of any kind. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Handstamp |
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| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Prisoner of war camp money from the First World War is inherently provisional — made to solve an immediate administrative problem and never intended to outlast the war. Halle an der Saale held officer prisoners, a distinction that mattered: under the Hague Conventions, officer POWs were entitled to pay and could not be compelled to work, so a functioning internal currency was a genuine operational necessity rather than a token gesture.
The pink cloth substrate sets this issue apart from the more common cardboard and paper camp scrip of the period. The handstamp served as the primary authentication — crude by any standard, but sufficient when the issuing authority and the circulation pool were both confined behind the same wire.