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50 Fen Shanxi Province First Prison
| Issuer | Shanxi Province First Prison |
|---|---|
| Year | 1958 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress print on buff paper with a decorative scrollwork border running the full perimeter. Central text block carries the denomination in Chinese characters within three oval cartouches, flanked by restrictive usage inscriptions on left and right. A red serial number in Latin numerals is printed below centre, with a red administrative seal overstruck across the upper text area. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse is unprinted, showing plain buff paper with no design, text, or ornamentation. |
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| Comments |
Prison-issued scrip in the People's Republic was a practical administrative tool — inmates received wages for labor under the reform-through-labor system (laogai), but that money could only be spent within the prison canteen or commissary, preventing cash from circulating outside the institution. The Shanxi Province First Prison scrip belongs to this category, issued the same year the central government was consolidating the laogai system under the Ministry of Public Security.
Brown paper scrip from this period is notoriously fragile and rarely survived outside the issuing facility. Most was surrendered or destroyed upon an inmate's release or transfer.