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40 Centimes Rouen; Canteen voucher

Issuer Dépôt de Prisonniers de Guerre de Rouen
Year 1914-1918
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Value 40 Centimes (0.40)
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Obverse description Octagonal-cornered rectangular voucher printed in black letterpress on yellowish paper, with the depot name and location inscribed in the upper portion and the large denomination numeral '40' with superscript 'MES' to the right occupying the centre field. A broad diagonal red handstamp band crosses the face from lower left to upper right, and the word 'CANTINE' appears in bold capitals along the lower margin.
Obverse lettering DÉPOT des PRISONNIERS de GUERRE
ROUEN - quai de France
40 CENTmes
CANTINE
(Translation: Prisoner of war depot. Rouen - Quai de France. 40 Centimes. Canteen.)
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Comments

French prisoner-of-war depots issued internal canteen vouchers as a matter of administrative necessity — controlling what captives could spend, and where, without introducing French currency into the camp economy. Rouen, as a major rail hub and established garrison city, held one of the larger WWI depot operations on the Western Front.

These vouchers were strictly internal scrip, redeemable only at the depot canteen and theoretically worthless outside the wire. Survival rates are low precisely because they were designed to be consumed, not saved.

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