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5 Cents U.S. Armed Forces Officers' Open Mess; green
| Issuer | U.S. Armed Forces Officers' Open Mess, Teheran, Iran (APO 205) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1960-1979 |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Obverse description | Green paper with black letterpress text. The denomination numeral '5' appears in a bordered box at right, with 'CENTS' below. A red serial number is printed in the lower centre, with a cautionary notice 'NOT GOOD IF DETACHED' at lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | U. S. ARMED FORCES OFFICERS' OPEN MESS TEHERAN, IRAN - APO 205 NOT GOOD IF DETACHED 5 CENTS |
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| Comments |
Officers' Open Mess scrip issued at APO 205 in Tehran predates the 1979 revolution by an indeterminate margin — the series ran across two decades and individual notes are rarely datable with precision. These MPC-adjacent issues were used exclusively within the compound mess, functioning as a closed monetary circuit to prevent local currency from entering U.S. military facilities and to limit black-market exposure, a persistent problem throughout the American advisory presence in Iran under the Shah.
The APO 205 designation placed this squarely within the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) and later Military Assistance Mission (MILAM) infrastructure. When the revolution came in February 1979, remaining scrip stocks were almost certainly abandoned or destroyed during the hasty evacuation.