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2 Mark Karlsruhe; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Inspektion der Kriegsgefangenenlager des XIV. Armeekorps (Karlsruhe) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1918 |
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| Currency | Mark (1873-1923) |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress print in black on a dense guilloche underprint in olive-brown, composed of an all-over repeating curvilinear scroll pattern covering the entire face. The denomination "Mark 2 Mark" is printed in large bold Gothic type across the centre, with the issuing authority inscription in the upper left and the validity clause in the lower right. A handstamped cancellation reading "Entwertet" (cancelled) appears in the upper centre area. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Inspektion der Kriegsgefangenenlager des XIV. Armeekorps. Mark 2 Mark Gültig nur innerhalb des Lagers sonst ohne jeden Wert. Entwertet. |
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| Comments |
The XIV. Armeekorps administration in Karlsruhe issued these notes to manage internal economies across its network of prisoner-of-war camps during the First World War — a system that kept Allied currency out of circulation among prisoners while still allowing supervised canteen purchases. Camp scrip of this type was never intended to leave the wire, and most of it didn't survive the war in any form.
The 2 Mark denomination sits at the higher end of the scrip range, suggesting it was used for larger canteen transactions rather than daily petty exchange. Surviving examples are genuinely scarce; most were redeemed, confiscated at repatriation, or simply discarded.