https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_payment_certificate
Military payment certificates, or MPC, was a form of currency used to pay United States (US) military personnel in certain foreign countries in the mid and late twentieth century. They were used in one area or another from a few months after the end of World War II until a few months after the end of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War – from 1946 until 1973.
Type: Series 591
Denomination: One Dollar
Number of Notes Printed: 10,080,000
First Issued: May 26, 1961
Redeemed: January 6, 1964
Value In Very Low Grades: $5
Value In Perfect Condition: $200
Oh wow! You just unlocked a memory of mine of a M*A*S*H episode where they have to exchange their military scrip from one color to another because of counterfeiting or profiteering or something.
EDIT: Looks like this is the episode- https://mash.fandom.com/wiki/Change_Day_(TV_series_episode)
just watched that episode recently! there’s a ton of small historical details in the show.
I just watched one that utilized an older anaesthetic called curare, and discusses how it was banned for a time, which was true, until safer versions were synthesized.
I always tell people who watch M*A*S*H to watch the European version without the laugh track. It’s such a different show!
Wow, how old is this… and who’s that woman in the cert.
Edit: To save someone the effort, pictured is a series 591, issued 1961-1964 in Cyprus, Iceland, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea
After making a slightly snide comment, I decided I had to redeem myself by actually finding the answer. It’s surprisingly difficult, but the engraver was likely Charles A Brooks. I cannot determine the name or subject of the engraving itself though, though I’m merely using google searching. The answer is probably sitting in some record books in some archive somewhere.
His engravings were nearly photorealistic, so a reverse image search from a cropped pic of just the portrait may yield something–his original source potentially.
Lady liberty. She was also on the backside of dimes before 1950 and some half dollar coins.
The hairdo, yes that might resemble Lady Liberty… the face though… no way.
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Bureau of Engraving and Printing says that series was used in Iceland, Cyprus, Japan, Philippines, and S. Korea… it looks like the portrait of a Senator’s wife, so my guess is it’s a portrait of Dorothy Walker Bush when she was younger… her husband Prescott (the banker) was on the Senate Armed Services Committee…
I wonder if you could exchange it for US dollars or if it was only usable in military commissaries?
I remember seeing this on pawn stars. They said the purpose was to stop black market flows of US dollars into foreign countries. I think it was particularly prevalent in Korea and Vietnam.
What they didn’t talk about is what you would do with your stack of certificates when your tour was up and it was time to go home.
Edit: They were convertible to local currency when on leave and US dollars when returning home.
I would bet they were the Chuck E Cheese tokens of the military. 300 more and you can get a plastic snake!
