Catalog
1 Yen - P.O.W. Canteen Ticket
| Issuer | Taiwan Prisoner of War Camp (臺灣俘虜收容所) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Taiwanese Yen (1895-1945) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 發行第3397號 壹圓券 臺灣俘虜收容所酒保購入券 |
| Reverse description | Printed in red on plain paper, the reverse is enclosed within a simple single-line rectangular border. The denomination "1 YEN" is rendered in large spaced capital letters at centre, with the handwritten-style "No." inscription in the upper left and a faint oval handstamp to its right. The text "P. O. W. Canteen Ticket" appears in smaller letterpress type along the lower portion. |
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| Comments |
These canteen tickets were issued by Japanese-administered POW camps in Taiwan to Allied prisoners — primarily British, Australian, and Dutch servicemen captured after the fall of Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. The scrip system was partly designed to satisfy the requirements of the 1929 Geneva Convention, which obligated detaining powers to provide canteen access and pay for officer labor. Whether those obligations were meaningfully honored is another matter entirely.
The handstamp is the only authentication device, applied at the individual camp level, which is why surviving examples vary considerably in ink color and stamp clarity. Forgery within the camps was documented — prisoners occasionally produced counterfeit scrip to obtain extra provisions.
S&B#2065 is among the most historically charged pieces in any Pacific War scrip collection.