Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Cents Commissioned Officers' Mess
| Issuer | Commissioned Officers' Mess, Bermuda |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Plain white paper with typeset black letterpress print. The issuer title appears at top, the denomination numeral and cent symbol in a larger bold typeface at centre, and the place name at base. No vignette or ornamental underprint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COMMISSIONED OFFICERS' MESS 5c BERMUDA |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Military mess notes occupy a peculiar legal grey zone — they functioned as internal currency within a closed institution, obligating the mess itself rather than any government or central bank. Bermuda's Commissioned Officers' Mess issues are among the more obscure examples of this tradition in the British Atlantic garrison network, circulating exclusively within the mess's accounts and canteen transactions.
Paper mess tokens of this denomination rarely survived — they were redeemed, lost, or simply discarded when an officer's posting ended. Survivors are correspondingly scarce, and provenance tracing is nearly impossible given the absence of serial numbering on most issues.