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20 Cents Adak; Hammerhead Lodge
| Issuer | Officers Mess Annex, Hammerhead Lodge, Naval Operating Base Adak |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream-toned paper with all text printed in black letterpress. The issuer's name appears in bold capitals at top, with the denomination "20c" in large type centred within the GOOD FOR ... IN TRADE legend. Location line reads ADAK, ALASKA at foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | OFFICERS MESS ANNEX HAMMERHEAD LODGE Naval Operating Base GOOD FOR 20¢ IN TRADE ADAK, ALASKA |
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| Comments |
Adak Island scrip occupies a genuinely odd corner of wartime American numismatics. The Naval Operating Base at Adak was established in August 1942 as part of the Aleutian campaign to retake Attu and Kiska from Japanese occupation, and the island's extreme remoteness — fog-bound, nearly inaccessible, with no civilian economy whatsoever — made locally-produced mess currency a practical necessity rather than a novelty.
The Hammerhead Lodge designation refers to the officers' annex specifically, meaning this scrip had a deliberately restricted circulation pool. It was never intended to leave the base, and most didn't survive demobilization.