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5 Xu Ho Chi Minh Trail Note
| Issuer | Trường Sơn (Ho Chi Minh Trail Administration) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1965-1968 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed in red on a pink underprint. The centre carries the inscription TRƯỜNG SƠN above PHIẾU BÁCH HÓA, set within an ornate cartouche with guilloche-style micro-text underprint filling the field. Numeral 5 appears in decorative rosette medallions at left and right, with a further value tablet at lower centre reading Số 5. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain unprinted paper reverse with no design elements; a pencilled collector notation is visible but forms no part of the original issue. |
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| Comments |
The Trường Sơn notes were scrip issued specifically for use by personnel operating along the supply corridor through Laos and Cambodia — not general-circulation currency. Soldiers and support workers could not use standard Democratic Republic of Vietnam banknotes in those zones, where transactions needed to remain invisible to both local populations and American intelligence. The scrip kept internal logistics economy self-contained.
These are among the odder artifacts of the conflict: a parallel monetary system for a road that officially didn't exist. Surviving examples surfaced primarily through veterans, not banking channels.