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2 Mark Gefangenenlager
| Issuer | Gefangenenlager Hammerstein (Prisoner of War Camp, Hammerstein, West Prussia) |
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| Year | |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Reverse description | The reverse repeats the obverse design in its entirety, printed in the same red on cream paper with identical symmetrical layout. Central oval guilloche panel carries 'Zwei Mark' in bold letterpress, flanked by paired circular rosettes with the numeral '2', and the curved banners above and below read 'GEFANGENENLAGER' and 'HAMMERSTEIN' respectively. The legend 'NUR GEFANGENENGELD' appears at the lower left, and the fine wavy-line guilloche underprint covers the full field as on the obverse. |
| Reverse lettering | GEFANGENENLAGER Zwei Mark HAMMERSTEIN NUR GEFANGENENGELD |
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| Comments |
Hammerstein — now Czarne, Poland — housed Russian prisoners during the First World War, and like dozens of German POW camps, it issued its own internal scrip to prevent detainees from accumulating currency usable outside the wire. These camp marks circulated only within the compound and were theoretically redeemable at the canteen. In practice, redemption at war's end was chaotic, and most surviving examples were simply pocketed by departing prisoners or camp staff rather than exchanged.
Gefangenenlager issues are notoriously unattributed in contemporary records — denomination and camp name are often the only reliable data points a collector gets.