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5 Centesimi Fonte D'Amore; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Comando Reparti Prigionieri di Guerra, Fonte d'Amore |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Francesco Franco |
| Protection type | Handstamp |
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| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Fonte d'Amore was a prisoner-of-war camp outside Sulmona in the Abruzzo, operated by the Italian military during the First World War to hold Austro-Hungarian captives. Camp scrip of this kind was issued to prevent prisoners from accumulating Italian legal tender — a standard precaution, but the hyper-local printing arrangements make these notes genuinely provincial objects. Vecchioni's workshop in L'Aquila was a regional commercial printer, not a security press, which is why the handstamp functioned as the primary authentication device rather than any intaglio work.
The Franco signature appearing on 5-centesimi denominations places this among the lowest-value scrip in the Fonte d'Amore series — canteen money, effectively.