5 Pfennig Friedrichsfeld am Niederrhein; PoW Camp

Friedrichsfeld, near Wesel in the Lower Rhine region, held tens of thousands of Allied prisoners during the war — at its peak one of the larger German PoW camps of the period. Camp scrip like this was a deliberate administrative tool: it prevented prisoners from accumulating Reichsmark currency that could fund escapes, while giving the camp economy a functional medium for canteen transactions.

The watermark on paper this thin is worth noting — an unusual security measure for denominations this low, suggesting centralized procurement rather than improvised local printing. Keller documents significant variation across the Friedrichsfeld issues in paper stock and typography.