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25 Cents Pusan; Officers' Open Mess
| Issuer | Pusan Officers' Open Mess (A.P.O. 96259) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1950-1955 |
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| Currency | Dollar |
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| Obverse description | Yellow paper voucher with black letterpress print; a bold rectangular border frames the central text block at left and a large denomination numeral panel at right. Serial number printed in red at lower centre. Inscription "Void if detached" appears at lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PUSAN OFFICERS' OPEN MESS A.P.O. 96259 Void if detached 25 CENTS |
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| Comments |
A.P.O. 96259 places this squarely within the Pusan military postal zone during the Korean War period. Officers' Open Mess scrip like this circulated as internal currency within the mess itself — designed to prevent U.S. dollars from leaking into the Korean black market, a serious enforcement problem throughout the conflict. The yellow paper stock was a deliberate color-coding measure; different denominations and issuing messes often used distinct colors to limit cross-use and counterfeiting.
These were not military payment certificates in the formal MPC sense — they carried no U.S. Treasury backing and were purely a local administrative instrument, redeemable only within the issuing establishment.