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50 francs - Cantine des P. G. A.

Issuer Houillères du Bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais, Groupe de Bruay
Year 1945-1948
Type Vouchers
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Obverse description Uniface letterpress printing on grey-green paper stock with no vignette, guilloche underprint, or ornamental device. The issuing authority and group designation are set in the upper portion, with the denomination rendered in large bold type across the centre, followed by the redemption clause in smaller roman type; the title of the authorising signatory appears at lower left with a manuscript signature beneath it, and the serial number prefixed by 'No' at lower right.
Obverse lettering Houillères du Bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais
Groupe de Bruay - Cantine des P. G. A.
BON pour 50 francs
valeur en marchandises à prendre
à la Cantine du Camp
L'Ingénieur en Chef des Services
Administratifs et Commerciaux
(Translation: Coal mines of the Nord Basin and Pas-de-Calais. Bruay Group, Axis prisoners of war canteen. Voucher for 50 francs, value in goods to be taken at the camp canteen. The chief engineer of the administrative and commercial services.)
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Comments

The Houillères du Bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais were nationalized coal-mining operations established under the postwar nationalization laws of May 1946, though some group-level canteen scrip was already circulating before the formal reorganization took effect. This note — issued by the Bruay group specifically for the prisoner-of-war canteen ("Cantine des P.G.A.") — was intended for German POWs employed in the mines as forced labor under Allied repatriation and reparations agreements.

The use of dedicated scrip prevented POW wages from entering general circulation and kept purchasing power confined to controlled canteen outlets. Bruay was one of the largest mining groups in the Pas-de-Calais basin, and German labor there continued into 1948 as France extracted what it could before repatriation concluded.

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