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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 | Black letterpress on green guilloche underprint. The British Royal coat of arms is printed at upper centre, with the denomination value "50 cts." in bold at left and right. A central ornamental cartouche with scrollwork frames the value text, below which the redemption conditions appear in three lines of smaller type. |
|---|---|
| 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. |
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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.