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 Rupees Ragama; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Prisoners of War Camp, Ragama (British Military) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Rupees |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Letterpress in black and red on a grey underprint. The British coat of arms appears at upper centre, with the denomination and conditions of use in typeset text below. A handstamp date is applied by hand. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Rs. 5. GOOD FOR FIVE RUPEES Current only within the Prisoners' Enclosure and payable at the Office of the Officer in charge of Prisoners of War, Ragama. Captain, Camp Commandant. |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Ragama, a small town north of Colombo in Ceylon, housed Boer prisoners captured during the South African War — one of several camps the British established outside South Africa itself to reduce escape risk and logistical pressure on the Cape Colony. This note was issued within that camp as internal scrip, allowing prisoners to make purchases from the canteen without handling official currency. The British military ran a parallel economy inside these facilities; scrip prevented hoarded sterling from funding escape attempts.
Campbell 4821 is among the rarer denominations from Ragama. Most camp scrip was destroyed or surrendered at repatriation in 1902.