10 Cents Lethbridge; PoW Camp

Internment Camp 133 at Lethbridge held the largest population of Japanese-Canadian and Japanese-national prisoners in Canada during the war — at its peak, over 12,000 men, making it one of the largest PoW camps in North America. The camp scrip was a deliberate administrative tool: by restricting prisoners to internal currency redeemable only within the compound, authorities prevented hoarding of Canadian coin that could theoretically fund escape attempts or black-market activity with local civilians.

Bulman Brothers of Winnipeg printed several Canadian PoW camp scrip series during the war years. The printing is competent but minimal — security was achieved through controlled distribution, not sophisticated anti-counterfeiting measures.