5 Dollars

Military Payment Certificates were not introduced until 1946, and this series — the first MPC issue — was designed specifically to cut off the black market currency trading that had plagued American forces in occupied territories during the war. By replacing greenbacks with scrip redeemable only by authorized personnel, the Army could, in theory, prevent locals and unauthorized parties from accumulating U.S. dollars.

Forbes Lithograph in Boston printed the series under tight security. Conversion days, when one MPC series was suddenly replaced by another without advance notice, were the real enforcement mechanism — anyone holding notes outside authorized channels lost everything.