But what are PoW camps in the first place?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of the enemy combatants captured during the time of war. During wartime, there is always a need to detain people, anyone captured alive needs to be held as a prisoner. Then to accommodate these detainees, Prisoner of War camps are established. The camps that came up during the World Wars were well organized, and some even had their own alternative currencies called as PoW camp money or Prisoner of War Camp Money<\/strong>.<\/p>\n During World War I, many soldiers were taken as prisoners of war and put to work in camps. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907<\/strong> required signatories to provide humane treatment of POWs. In many POW camps, it was reported that only officers were treated appropriately. The non-officers were put to work and were paid with camp coupons.<\/p>\n The building of PoW camps got an unprecedented impetus during World War II. Even neutral countries such as Switzerland and Ireland set up camps for soldiers and refugees. Most of the camps had Canteens \u2013 shops where the PoWs could buy food, socks and other basic supplies. To \u201cbuy\u201d such supplies there were camp \u2018tokens\u2019 or \u2018money\u2019 provided to the prisoners which they earned after working in the camp. These simple tokens were unique to a particular camp and were mostly made out of low-quality paper. These coupons and currencies were issued by the military for use specifically within the camps, meaning they were otherwise worthless! The war camp money<\/strong> was rationed out by the camp authorities and the prisoners could earn extra by putting in more working hours.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Cigarettes had become the \u2018normal currency\u2019 in many camps, with them being bartered by non-smokers for food and chocolates! Cigarettes turned out to be a \u2018staple\u2019 form of \u2018currency\u2019 as it was one of the fairest ones to exchange – considering its uniformity in size and in some cases quality too.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough cigarettes as currency exhibited certain peculiarities, they performed all the functions of a metallic currency as a unit of account, as a measure of value and as a\u00a0 store of\u00a0 value,\u00a0 and shared\u00a0 most of\u00a0 its characteristics.\u00a0 They\u00a0 were\u00a0 homogeneous, reasonably\u00a0 durable,\u00a0 and\u00a0 of\u00a0 convenient\u00a0 size\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 smallest\u00a0 or,\u00a0 in\u00a0 packets,\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 largest\u00a0 transactions.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n While cigarettes emerged as a basic commodity for \u201cpure exchanges\u201d, many prisoners also bartered their skills. There are mentions of a man who \u201csold\u201d his knowledge of Urdu by buying beef from the Indian soldiers (mostly Sikhs) and selling butter and jam in return.[2]<\/a> Interesting isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s have a look at some war camp money\/tokens:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A) Cottbus camp:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n This 1 mark note or camp token was issued in Cottbus camp, situated on the outskirts of Cottbus – the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. The town housed wool, linen and yarn factories and also a coal-mine which was under the command of the 3rd Army Corps. The prisoners of war detained in camp worked in the factories and mines in the area and earned their dues.<\/p>\n B) French Camp<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n This 10 centimes French camp token was issued during the First World War (around 1914\u20131918). Such tokens were issued by the British for use by German POWs in France. Very little is known about these cages (camps). Most likely these were temporary camps like a staging post before transferring the PoWs to other permanent camps.<\/p>\n C) Dobeln camp<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n This 10 mark note was issued to officers at Dobeln camp. The town was small with a population of 19,600 and the camp was established in barracks built of brick and about a mile from the railway station. The area was under the command of the 19th Army Corps.<\/p>\n D) Graudenz camp<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n This 5 Pfennig note from Graudenz camp carries an official hand-stamp of the camp. Graudenz was situated on the right bank of the river Vistula on the Polish frontier. This camp housed British officers since March 1918 along with some American PoWs. This note here has a simple design and is considered to be one of the least attractive of the 3,000 or so varieties of PoW camp money issued during the war.<\/p>\n Did you notice the date? This note was issued just 9 weeks before the end of the Great War!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A) Wairarapa camp<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Wairarapa in New Zealand housed Japanese PoWs during the World Wars. The Army Department issued war camp money<\/strong> tokens to these Japanese detained in a camp in Featherston, Wairarapa. \u00a0Most of the tokens from this camp were melted down after the war so they are very rare. This one was worth five shillings.<\/p>\n B) Curragh camp[3]<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The Curragh Camp was an army base located in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The camp was somewhat remote and housed German or Allied internees. The prisoners here were given \u00a33 and \u00a32 per week was paid in tokens and\/or in Irish currency plus \u00a35 each to purchase civilian clothes.[4]<\/a> The camp had its own money and token to be used by Allied and Axis prisoners held at the Curragh internment camp during the Emergency.<\/p>\n The whole purpose of this was to provide the PoWs with some money with which they could purchase personal goods without obtaining the legal-tender of the country. This war camp money<\/strong> needed to be worthless in case of an escape. To cope up with the rising economic pressures many systems of parallel currencies sprang up. We have covered a few of them in various articles. Read them here:<\/p>\n Psychological warfare: Propaganda Notes<\/a>!<\/p>\n \u201cParadise\u201d money!<\/a><\/p>\n Anglo-Boer war: Prisoner of war Coupon<\/a><\/p>\n Did you know India too had a number of PoW camps with a similar system of war camp currencies? Stay tuned…we will be coming up with an equally interesting story of Indian PoWs camps!!<\/p>\n Till then keep visiting and happy collecting!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp by R.A. Radford from Economica, November 1945.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp by R.A. Radford from Economica, November 1945.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Both the images, B and C, are of Curragh Camp. The obverses of the token had CURRAGH at the top, the date at the bottom and the denomination, 1d, 6d, 1\/-, or 2\/- in the centre and the reverses were generally blank.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> https:\/\/oldcurrencyexchange.com\/2015\/11\/12\/obrien-coin-guide-curragh-prisoner-of-war-camp-tokens\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" War changes many things and the political changes are just the tip of the iceberg. Living in a country that\u2019s at war changes the way you think, it changes your perspective on everything! And one such change that every war in history brought with itself was the disastrous plunge in the economy! But it is … Continue reading War Camp Money: POW Camps<\/span> ![\"war-camp-money-pow-camps\"](\"https:\/\/www.mintageworld.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
![\n<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\nA) Wairarapa camp<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nWairarapa in New Zealand housed Japanese PoWs during the World Wars. The Army Department issued war camp money<\/strong> tokens to these Japanese detained in a camp in Featherston, Wairarapa. \u00a0Most of the tokens from this camp were melted down after the war so they are very rare. This one was worth five shillings.<\/p>\nB) Curragh camp[3]<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nThe Curragh Camp was an army base located in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The camp was somewhat remote and housed German or Allied internees. The prisoners here were given \u00a33 and \u00a32 per week was paid in tokens and\/or in Irish currency plus \u00a35 each to purchase civilian clothes.[4]<\/a> The camp had its own money and token to be used by Allied and Axis prisoners held at the Curragh internment camp during the Emergency.<\/p>\nThe whole purpose of this was to provide the PoWs with some money with which they could purchase personal goods without obtaining the legal-tender of the country. This war camp money<\/strong> needed to be worthless in case of an escape. To cope up with the rising economic pressures many systems of parallel currencies sprang up. We have covered a few of them in various articles. Read them here:<\/p>\nPsychological warfare: Propaganda Notes<\/a>!<\/p>\n\u201cParadise\u201d money!<\/a><\/p>\nAnglo-Boer war: Prisoner of war Coupon<\/a><\/p>\nDid you know India too had a number of PoW camps with a similar system of war camp currencies? Stay tuned…we will be coming up with an equally interesting story of Indian PoWs camps!!<\/p>\nTill then keep visiting and happy collecting!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n[1]<\/a> The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp by R.A. Radford from Economica, November 1945.<\/p>\n[2]<\/a> The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp by R.A. Radford from Economica, November 1945.<\/p>\n[3]<\/a> Both the images, B and C, are of Curragh Camp. The obverses of the token had CURRAGH at the top, the date at the bottom and the denomination, 1d, 6d, 1\/-, or 2\/- in the centre and the reverses were generally blank.<\/p>\n[4]<\/a> https:\/\/oldcurrencyexchange.com\/2015\/11\/12\/obrien-coin-guide-curragh-prisoner-of-war-camp-tokens\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"War changes many things and the political changes are just the tip of the iceberg. Living in a country that\u2019s at war changes the way you think, it changes your perspective on everything! And one such change that every war in history brought with itself was the disastrous plunge in the economy! But it is … Continue reading War Camp Money: POW Camps<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[654,653,650,646,647,648,645,651,652,649],"yoast_head":"\nWar Camp Money: POW Camps - Blog | Mintage World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did you know that Prisoners of War camp had their own currency systems during the two Great Wars? 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