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10 Cents Wheeler PoW Camp
| Issuer | Camp Wheeler Prisoner of War Camp Canteen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940-1945 |
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| In circulation to | Yes |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in red-orange on orange paper stock, the obverse is divided into two sections by a vertical rule. The left panel carries the camp canteen inscription in bold letterpress text across four lines, followed by the serial number in large numerals along the lower portion. The right panel is framed by a decorative border and bears the denomination numeral '10' above the word 'CENTS' in bold type. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse is entirely plain, printed on the same orange-red paper stock with no text, vignette, or decorative elements of any kind. |
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| Comments |
Camp Wheeler, outside Macon, Georgia, operated as both a U.S. Army training facility and a prisoner of war compound during the Second World War, holding primarily German and Italian captives. PoW camp canteen scrip was a practical necessity under the Geneva Convention's requirement that prisoners have access to a canteen — but the scrip had to be valueless outside the wire, so it couldn't be used to bribe guards or fund escapes.
Wheeler canteen issues are among the more elusive of the American PoW scrip series. Unlike some larger camps, Wheeler did not produce extensive documentation of its canteen operations, which makes precise attribution of individual denominations difficult. The orange-red paper is a distinguishing physical feature across this series.