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500 Francs - Cantine voucher Pas-de-Calais
| Issuer | Houillères du Bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945-1948 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Houillères du Bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais Groupe de Bruay - Cantine des P. G. A. BON pour 500 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 500 francs, value in goods to be taken at the camp canteen. The chief engineer of the administrative and commercial services.) |
| Reverse description | Reverse entirely unprinted, plain pale green paper stock with no text, vignette, or ornamentation of any kind. |
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| Comments |
The Houillères du Bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais was created by nationalization decree in December 1944, folding the formerly private and German-occupied northern coalfields into state control almost before the war had formally ended. These canteen vouchers — scrip rather than banknotes in any strict sense — were issued to miners as part of the rationing system still governing food distribution in postwar France, redeemable only at pit-head canteens and company stores.
The 1945–1948 window places this squarely in the period before French rationing fully unwound. Miners were a priority labor class; their scrip had real purchasing power within a closed economy when outside it, francs often bought very little.