2 Shillings 6 Pence

British Armed Forces Special Vouchers were introduced to control black market currency exchange among troops stationed overseas — sterling-equivalent scrip that could be invalidated and replaced series-by-series if a particular issue was being systematically exploited. The 1956 series, of which this is a part, circulated in BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) garrisons and various Middle Eastern postings during a period of acute sensitivity around hard currency outflows.

De La Rue's involvement kept production tight and counterfeiting difficult, but the real security mechanism was administrative: vouchers were tied to individual pay accounts, and possession of an out-of-series issue by a soldier was itself grounds for investigation.