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5 Centimes - Miramas Bouches-du-Rhône
| Issuer | 15ème Région Militaire - Dépôt de Prisonniers de Guerre de Miramas |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Centimes (0.05) |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress print on cream paper. The centre carries the large denomination value "0f. 05c." flanked by two circular vignettes: at left, a laureate female head in profile facing right (Marianne), and at right, a Gallic rooster standing left, both set within plain roundels. Decorative floral sprigs appear at the outer edges, and a small "RF" crowned cypher is positioned at the bottom centre within a cartouche border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 15eme RÉGION PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE BON POUR 0f.05c. Valable seulement dans les dépôts - détachements de Prisonniers de Guerre RF (Translation: 15th region. Prisoner of war camp money. Good for 5 centimes. Valid strictly within prisoner of war depots and detachments. French Republic) |
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| Comments |
French military prisoner-of-war camps operated their own internal scrip systems during the First World War, and the 15th Military Region — headquartered in Marseille — administered several such depots across the Bouches-du-Rhône. Miramas, a rail junction town on the Étang de Berre, held German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners put to agricultural and infrastructure labor. The camp scrip prevented detainees from accumulating currency usable outside the wire.
At the 5 centimes denomination, this is the lowest fractional value in the Miramas series — essentially a canteen token in paper form, issued to balance small transactions where metal coinage was deliberately withheld.