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25 Cents Ragama; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Prisoners of War Camp, Ragama |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress print on plain paper with a fine guilloche underprint. The British Royal coat of arms is printed at upper centre, flanked by the denomination "25 cts." at both upper left and right. A central ornate cartouche with scrollwork surrounds the value "25 CENTS", below which the conditions of use and issuing authority appear in roman type. Multiple violet "CANCELLED" handstamps applied diagonally across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | No. 77 25 cts. GOOD FOR 25 CENTS Current only within the Prisoners' Enclosure, and payable at the Office of the Officer in charge of Prisoners of War, Ragama. Captain, Camp Commandant. |
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| Comments |
Ragama was one of several prisoner-of-war camps established in Ceylon by British authorities during the Anglo-Boer War to hold Boer captives transported from South Africa. Camp scrip of this kind was a practical solution to an administrative problem: prisoners needed a medium of exchange for canteen purchases, but giving them access to sterling coin created obvious risks. These internal currencies were struck in strictly controlled quantities and redeemable only within the camp economy.
Ceylon-issued Boer POW scrip is genuinely scarce. Most was either destroyed at war's end or retained as curiosities by guards and former prisoners. Campbell 4818 is among the rarer denominations from Ragama specifically.