Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Mark Bautzen; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Kriegsgefangenen-Lager Bautzen i. Sa. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Yes |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Kriegsgefangenen-Lager GUT FÜR FÜNF MARK Bautzen i. Sa Kein öffentliches Zahlungsmittel (Translation: Prisoner of war camp. Good for five mark. Bautzen in Saxony. No public means of payment.) |
| Reverse description | Black letterpress on a blue guilloche underprint with a fine lathe-work field covering the entire surface. The central design consists of an ornate cartouche with elaborate acanthus and scroll surround enclosing a rectangular text panel bearing the redemption clause. Six small Imperial German eagle underprints are distributed across the field, and denomination numerals '5' with 'MARK' appear in the four corners. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Prisoner of war camp money issued at Bautzen in Saxony during the First World War, printed locally by Alexander Wiede of Chemnitz. Camp currencies like this one were administrative instruments — designed to restrict purchasing power to approved canteen goods and prevent prisoners from accumulating Reichsmarks that could fund escape attempts or be smuggled out.
Wiede was a commercial printer, not a security house, and the production quality reflects that. The Bautzen camp held primarily Russian and later Romanian prisoners at various points in the war, though inmate populations shifted constantly with the military situation on the Eastern Front.