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2 Fen Shanxi Province First Prison
| Issuer | Shanxi Province First Prison (山西省第一监狱) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1958 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Rénmínbì (1955-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 2 山西省第一監獄 犯人購貨証 只限犯人 監內使用 貳分 不得外傳 或借用 1958年10月 (Translation: Shanxi Province First Prison. Inmate purchase goods voucher. For use inside the prison only. Restricted to inmates only. 2 Fen. Not allowed to be passed outside or borrowed. October 1958.) |
| Reverse description | Reverse is entirely blank, showing only the plain brown paper stock with no printing or markings. |
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| Comments |
Prison-issued scrip in the People's Republic of China was a product of the laogai system — the network of labor reform camps and prisons that expanded dramatically in the 1950s. Inmates were paid nominal wages for their labor, but currency had to be controlled within the facility; standard renminbi could not circulate freely behind prison walls. Each institution issued its own scrip, redeemable only at the prison canteen or cooperative, ensuring earnings stayed internal.
1958 places this note squarely in the Great Leap Forward period, when labor output — including prison labor — was being pushed hard across every institutional sector. Shanxi Province First Prison scrip from this year surfaces only rarely; most was destroyed, spent into oblivion, or confiscated at sentence completion.