German and Austro-Hungarian Prison Camp Money (Script)

Creator

Preview

Creation Date

1916

Description

This photograph shows an assortment of prison camp script and coins from Germany and Austria. All of the denominations are small (one to five Pfennige for German script and one to fifty Heller for Austrian script and coins), but this cash replaced legal currency to prevent prisoners from using the money to fund escape attempts or to bribe guards. The German script came from two prison camps in Saxony, Koenigstein-an-der-Elbe and Chemnitz.