5 Pfennig Dyrotz; PoW Camp

Dyrotz was a POW camp located near Wustermark in Brandenburg, one of dozens of German camps that issued their own internal scrip during the First World War to prevent captured currency from funding escapes or entering the broader economy. The Otto Lange press in Berlin handled a number of these camp issues, and the workmanship is competent rather than elaborate — the real security lay in the dry stamp and handstamp applied at the camp itself, which varied enough between issues to make forgery impractical for a prisoner with limited materials.

The handstamp in particular is the detail worth examining closely on any example. Unevenly applied impressions are normal; a missing or faint stamp is not necessarily a sign of damage but often reflects hasty issue under administrative pressure.