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50 Cents Diyatalawa; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Prisoners of War Camp, Diyatalawa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Cents (0.50) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | No. GOOD FOR 50 cts. FIFTY CENTS Current only within the Prisoners' Enclosure and payable at the Office of the Officer in charge of Prisoners of War, Diyatalawa. |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted reverse in aged cream paper, bearing multiple handwritten pencil inscriptions and ink notations added by former holders, with faint show-through of the obverse letterpress visible. |
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| Comments |
Diyatalawa, in the hill country of Ceylon, held thousands of Boer prisoners captured during the South African War. The British established an internal scrip system at the camp to allow limited commerce without giving detainees access to sterling — a precaution against escape funding as much as an administrative convenience. Notes like this one circulated exclusively within the camp perimeter and were theoretically non-negotiable outside it.
Campbell 4801 is among the more elusive denominations from this issue. Camp scrip rarely survived repatriation; most was surrendered or simply discarded when prisoners were shipped home following the Peace of Vereeniging in May 1902.