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5 Dollars - Military Payment Certificate
| Issuer | United States Military Payment Certificate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1968-1969 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SERIES 661 FIVE DOLLARS MILITARY PAYMENT CERTIFICATE FOR USE ONLY IN THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS-BY UNITED STATES AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE RULES AND REGULATIONS |
| Reverse description | Central oval medallion bearing an intaglio portrait of a young girl's face, surrounded by radiating guilloche lathe-work in brown and pink. Acanthus scrollwork flanks the medallion at lower center, with the denomination numeral "5" repeated in each corner. |
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| Comments |
Military Payment Certificates were issued to U.S. personnel stationed abroad as a control mechanism against black-market currency speculation — local populations were barred from holding them legally, and periodic "conversion days" allowed command to invalidate an entire series overnight. Series 661, which covers this note, was replaced on August 11, 1969, in a swift, unannounced swap conducted simultaneously across Vietnam, giving holders only hours to exchange before the old certificates became worthless paper.
Soldiers caught off-base or otherwise unable to reach a conversion point in time simply lost their money. That hard cutoff is why surviving Series 661 notes exist at all.