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5 Cents Camp Blanding; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Prisoner of War Canteen, Camp Blanding, Florida |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1946 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress printed in black on pink paper. The upper portion carries the canteen and camp identification inscriptions, while a bold numeral '5' within a decorative black border panel appears at right, with the red serial number printed below the main legend at centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | P. W. CANTEEN CAMP BLANDING, FLA. NOT GOOD IF DETACHED ONLY 5 CENTS |
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| Comments |
Camp Blanding, established as a Florida National Guard training facility in 1939, became one of the largest military installations in the United States during the war — at its peak, the camp held over 8,000 German and Italian prisoners. Canteen currency was issued to prevent PoWs from accumulating U.S. legal tender, a requirement under the Geneva Convention, which stipulated that prisoners be paid for labor but denied access to negotiable currency that could fund escape attempts.
The pink paper is characteristic of the Blanding series; the color-coding helped canteen staff sort denominations quickly under field conditions. Campbell's reference 7606 places this among the better-documented American PoW camp issues, though actual survival rates are low — most scrip was destroyed or discarded at war's end.