Currency collected during military service, ca. 1948-1975

File — Box: 1, Folder: 1

Identifier: OPL009_001

Scope and Contents

Ten banknotes accumulated by a United States serviceman during the Vietnam War era. Four are United States Military Payment Certificates, Series 641, the scrip issued to American personnel in Vietnam between August 1965 and October 1968. The remaining six are circulating currency from Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, the principal destinations for rest and recuperation leave and for transit during the period. No Vietnamese currency is present. The notes therefore document the geography of American military life outside combat operations as much as service in Vietnam itself.

Dates

Creation: ca. 1948-1975

Full Extent

10 Sheets (10 banknotes in 1 folder) : Paper currency; condition ranges from very good to poor

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

From the Collection: Thai

From the Collection: Korean

Additional Description

Arrangement

No original order survived acquisition. Arrangement imposed by the archivist: United States Military Payment Certificates first, by ascending denomination, followed by the remaining countries alphabetically (Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand), with denominations ascending within each country.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated to the Opelika Public Library. Original acquisition documentation was not retained. Donor name, date of receipt, and deed of gift status to be supplied.

General

The 1000 won note was not issued by the Bank of Korea until August 1975, seven years after Series 641 Military Payment Certificates were withdrawn from circulation. The collection as received cannot represent a single period of service. Whether the later note reflects subsequent service, a later addition by a family member, or material from another individual has not been established.

Processing Information

Described at item level rather than the folder-level default. Item-level treatment is warranted because each note carries a unique serial number, issuing authority, and date, because the collection totals only ten items, and because that data is what makes the collection usable for research. Identifications were made from photographs of both sides of each note. Subject headings assign each item the issuing country rather than the country of circulation; the Vietnam context is carried at the folder level.