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25 Cents Pusan; NCO Open Mess
| Issuer | U.S. Army Pusan NCO Open Mess |
|---|---|
| Year | 1950-1955 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper (pink) |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed in black on pink paper. The left portion carries the issuing authority inscription and the warning text in a plain bordered panel, with a red letterpress serial number below. A bold rectangular box at right displays the denomination in large numerals. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | U.S. ARMY PUSAN N.C.O. OPEN MESS A.P.O. 96259 NOT GOOD IF DETACHED 25 CENTS |
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| Comments |
Military Payment Certificates and base scrip are often conflated, but this note is neither — it's mess scrip, issued internally by the NCO Open Mess at Pusan to control alcohol and food purchases within that specific facility. The Korean War-era U.S. military presence in Pusan was substantial, and individual messes frequently issued their own low-denomination tokens and paper to prevent cash leakage outside authorized channels.
Pink paper was a common color-coding convention in U.S. military scrip hierarchies, sometimes used to distinguish fractional values from whole-dollar denominations.