Allied Military Currency ("AMC") was a form of

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

issued by the Allied powers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, to be issued to troops entering liberated or newly occupied countries, as a form of currency control.

Background

Historically, soldiers serving overseas had been paid in local currency rather than in their "home" currency; most cash drawn by soldiers would go directly into the local economy, and in a damaged economy the effects of a

hard currency In macroeconomics, hard currency, safe-haven currency, or strong currency is any globally traded currency that serves as a reliable and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's ''hard'' status might include the stability and ...

such as the dollar circulating freely alongside weaker local currencies could be severely problematic, risking severe

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

. There were other problems as well; once dollars were circulating in a combat region, the opposing side could freely use its own stocks of dollars as currency, or acquire stocks for use elsewhere. The high purchasing power of the dollar, and its easy transference back to the United States, also posed a significant incentive to

black-market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the ...

eering.Rundell, p. 384 However, whilst the use of local currencies was effective where they were provided in cooperation with the local authorities, it was impractical in combat zones where the government might be either hostile, deliberately ambivalent, or simply non-existent. In these cases, the military authorities issued special "military currency", which was paid out to soldiers at a fixed rate of exchange and simply declared legal tender in occupied areas by local commanders.

Implementation

File:1944 German Military Mark.JPG, Germany File:1 schilling note 1944.jpg, Austria File:AMC france 100 franc-1.jpg, France File:AMC italy 100 lire-2.jpg, Italy File:B-yen.jpg, Japan Five types of currency were issued: * German Allied Military Currency (Mark) * Austrian Allied Military Currency (Schilling) * French Allied Military Currency (Franc) * Italian Allied Military Currency (Lira) * Japanese Allied Military Currency ( A yen and

B yen was a colloquial term used to refer to a form of military scrip used in post-war US-Occupied Okinawa from April 15, 1946, to September 1958."B yen." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). '' ...

) The majority of the notes were printed by the

United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the United States government, most notable of which is Federal Res ...

, and some were printed by Russia, and the Japanese Ministry of Finance.

Collectors

Notes today are fairly common, and can be valued anywhere from one dollar (for a common bill) to a couple thousand dollars for a rare series, low printing, or replacement bill.

Notes

References

External links