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2 Shillings 6 Pence
| Issuer | British War Department (Prisoners of War Camps) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941-1946 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound sterling (1158-1971) |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress text on a purple underprint composed of a repeating section-sign pattern. The title inscription "PRISONERS OF WAR CAMPS" runs across the top, with "CAMP OF ISSUE" and a dotted completion line below. The denomination "TWO SHILLINGS and SIXPENCE" appears in a central rectangular border, flanked by large underprint initials "W D", with the numeral expression "2s. 6d." in bold at lower right and the restriction notice "AVAILABLE IN CAMP OF ISSUE ONLY" along the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain off-white ground with the heading "FOR CAMP OFFICE USE ONLY." underlined at the top. Below, eight equal circles arranged in two rows of four are printed in black outline, intended for camp office stamp cancellations. A printer's reference code "M.P.-30001-12" appears at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
British POW camp currency occupied a peculiar administrative space — it was not legal tender, not issued by a bank, and carried no redemption guarantee outside the wire. The War Department produced these notes specifically to allow prisoners to purchase goods from canteens while preventing any accumulation of currency usable for escape financing. Real money was confiscated on arrival.
The half-crown denomination mirrors civilian coinage of the period, a deliberate choice to keep transactions psychologically familiar for both prisoners and camp administrators. Camb 5019 covers the full run of the 1941–1946 production, during which print quantities and paper stock varied without always being formally documented.