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5 Cents USEM Club; Tsingtao
| Issuer | USEM Club, Tsingtao |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945-1948 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Blue letterpress print on cream paper. Left panel carries a vignette of a multi-storey club building rendered in a simple line-art style; right panel bears the issuer name and denomination in bold type, with the expiry date printed below in two lines. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | USEM CLUB TSINGTAO 5 Cts Void after Sep. 30, 1948 |
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| Comments |
USEM stands for United States Engineering and Maintenance, the U.S. Navy's shore establishment at Tsingtao following Japan's surrender. These small-denomination chits were issued for use within the base's recreational facilities — canteens, clubs, and commissary counters — during the American occupation period, when standard currency was impractical for low-value transactions among enlisted personnel.
Tsingtao had passed through German, Japanese, and Chinese hands before the Americans arrived in 1945. The base chit system was common across Pacific occupation postings, and most of this scrip was destroyed or discarded when the U.S. withdrew ahead of the Communist advance in 1949. Survivors are scarce precisely because nobody thought to keep them.