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* * Dear Editor ============================================== ============================================== ANA Seminar: 29 June to 5 July 2003 CPMX 9: 20 - 23 February, $$ = Paid ===================================================
For further information, please contact: ===================================================
FOR SALE SECTION: scans available upon request! Standard Edition (400 pages!)
$ 50 WANTED - Fancy Series 641 fractional notes - any condition.
===================================================
MPC GRAM
==============================================
Covering the entire World of Military Numismatics
Series 003 -
Number 631 Friday - 24 MAY 2002
___________________
__280 days to Fest IV__
FEATURED ARTICLE
Oral History Interview with BERNARD BERNSTEIN Part
VI
July 23, 1975
by Richard D. McKinzie
submitted by Fred
Schwan [comments in square brackets]
We had some of the French with us. I personally made available office space in
my group of offices, for a French treasury official, Guindey, whom I had known
from North Africa. There also was in London at the time as part of General de
Gaulle's staff, Herve Alphand. Alphand was an Inspecteur des Finances at the
French Treasury and had been the financial attache´ at the French Ambassy in
Washington. I had known him from Washington days. We worked some with the French
but mostly civil affairs and military government planning was between the
British and ourselves.
My British
opposite number was a British brigadier, Michael Babington Smith who was a
well-known British banker, and the nephew of the then Earl of Elgin. Babington
Smith and I worked quite well together. We dealt also with the British Treasury
and War Office people and with U.S. Treasury personnel at the American Embassy
in London. We also dealt with finance officials of Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland
and Norway. The main difficulty we had was with de Gaulle.
The decision had been made at the
top governmental level that we would in connection with the invasion of
France use a currency which was printed at the U.S. Treasury, which we were
treating as supplemental francs. The normal French franc was issued by the Bank
of France. The supplemental franc didn't say who issued it, it just said,
"Issued in France." It had on one side the French flag and the words in French
"Ègalitè Libertè Fraternitè," and on the other side the number of francs,
whatever number it was. We had a proclamation saying that this currency was
legal tender in France.
SHAEF
headquarters hadn't taken the currency problem up directly with de Gaulle, until
the last day or two, a couple of days before the invasion. I think there was a
great deal of fear, especially on the American side, that de Gaulle and the Free
French leaked too much. Maintaining security on this thing was crucial, of
crucial importance at that time.
A
clever cover plan had been worked out, especially by the British, to convince
the Germans that the invasion of Normandy was just a feint and that the real
invasion was going to be at Calais. This cover plan was so effective that that's
what Hitler was expecting. He was waiting for the main invasion to come in at
Calais and he did not move some of his troops into Normandy as quickly as he
might otherwise have done.
In any
event, we at the SHAEF headquarters, in accordance with instructions, didn't
clear this currency matter with the French. We had understood that at the
Government level in Washington there had been appropriate clearance with the
French. We didn't know what were the discussions in Washington. All of a
sudden de Gaulle heard that we were going to issue franc currency in France
without his authorization. Shortly after the invasion began he made a violent
attack on the supplemental franc currency and called it--whatever the French
equivalent is--counterfeit money.
Well, this was occurring at the very time of the invasion of France. A very big
disturbance was created at SHAEF headquarters and General Marshall was drawn
into the problem. I remember reading in a book about General Marshall that he
was very bitter about de Gaulle for threatening the effectiveness of the
invasion. In view of President Roosevelt's policy respecting France and de
Gaulle the decision about the currency to be used was up to the President.
Our policy had been to say this was
currency which we were issuing, we would deal later with the redemption question
and what countries were obligated for what amount, and so on. But this heated
discussion went on. I remember one day being called into General Smith's office
while he was dictating a cable to Washington on the currency question.
I suggested to him that he was
saying something a little contrary to the policy that had come to us from
Washington. He said he would take care of that. I could see that he and
General Eisenhower were trying to work out something of an accommodation with de
Gaulle, because General Eisenhower wanted the full cooperation of de Gaulle and
the French resistance group and wanted no interference with the invasion.
Gradually an arrangement was worked out that the supplemental currency would be
treated as though it was issued by the National Committee that was under the
control of de Gaulle.
You will
recall at the time President Roosevelt was very anxious to have, what we would
say today "all his options left open." He didn't want to have de Gaulle in a
position where he could force himself on France. The President wanted the French
to make their own decision as to who was going to be their leader and what form
of government they were going to have and so on. But de Gaulle was maneuvering
against the President's policy.
General de Gaulle had considerable success. By the time Paris was liberated on
August 25, 1944 he was pretty well recognized as the provisional government of
France. I was sent forward to Paris to deal with financial matters. I came from
London to General Eisenhower's advance headquarters in Normandy at a town called
Grenville and then drove up to Paris arriving during the night of September 1,
1944. September 1, 1944 was not only one week after Paris was liberated but was
five years to the day since my wife and I had to leave Paris on September 1,
1939 when war broke out.
I worked
with the French Treasury and Bank of France officials arranging for monies to be
made available to the American military forces. Gradually franc currency issued
by the Bank of France was substituted for the supplemental franc currency.
Credit arrangements were set up and records kept of how much franc currency was
made available to the Americans, how much we used for supplies, and so on.
In the fall of 1944 the
President of the Bank of France and other high officials of the Bank of France
gave a luncheon in my honor at the Bank of France. In 1945 I was one of six
officers of SHAEF G-5 awarded a Legion of Honor by the French Provisional
Government. The French Provisional Government took over the control of
France. We had a staff of civil affairs personnel stationed in Paris.
I had on the finance side,
first a Major Philip Allen, who was the son-in-law of Clarence Dillon and the
brother-in-law of Douglas Dillon. I remember that first week I was in Paris
talking to Phil Allen at great length and trying to persuade him to stay on in
Paris on this assignment. He wanted to do more active military service. He
ultimately got himself transferred. I replaced Allen with an officer by the name
of Colonel John Harriman. Harriman was a cousin, I think, of Averell Harriman. I
put Colonel Harriman in as our senior financial man in Paris. Essentially the
position just involved a kind of watching and reporting back if there were any
problems that might affect the security of the Allied military forces. But of
course the French at that point were just as interested as the Americans and the
British in the successful movement of the Allied armies that was going on across
France.
We also had small
civil affairs staffs in Belgium and Holland and Norway. I think Norway was
mostly handled by the British. I dealt, for instance, with the Belgian Minister
of Finance, Camille Gutt. The Belgians had decided to call in all their
outstanding currency because much of it was in the hands of Germans and in the
hands of collaborators. The Belgians felt they could only get adequate control
by calling in all the outstanding currency and issuing a new currency. We had an
interest in seeing that the interests of the Allied military forces were
protected and the Belgians were very cooperative with us on the matter.
The 2002 ANA "Military Numismatics" class is going to be
the best one yet! Currently, we have 8 students signed up -- all eager to learn
about the Numismatics of World War II, including MPC's, paper money, bonds,
coins and medals. There are still a couple of slots open -- so it's not too
late to make plans to attend the ANA
Summer Seminar. See
http://www.money.org/sumsem2002.html
for more information.
Gail Baker
I was reading the Department of the Army
57th Signal Company Information Letter to Incoming Personnel dated 21 October
1969. The Company Headquarters were at Long Binh, S. Vietnam with six
logistic support units located in Can Tho, Tan Son Nhat (Saigon's Airport), Qui
Nhon, Nha Trang, and Phu Bai.
The information letter addressed in Section
7 the use of "MACV ration cards." Here is the extraction from the
letter:
7. MACV ration cards are issued to all individuals. The
following
restrictions apply:
a. Cards are not transferable.
b.
Sections of the card may not be removed form the central portions. Any
card without the original four sections intact is void.
c. Exchange
merchandise may not be transferred by sale, gift, exchange, or loan except as
provided in the appropriate directives.
d. Cards may not be sold,
bartered, or placed in pawn. Only one card per individual is
authorized.
Phil Goldstein wrote in great details about the currency
control cards but this was some thing entirely different, since it
contained removable "sections" as addressed in 7.b. Does any one
have any scans, pictures, description, etc. of such item? Were ration
cards the same as currency control cards? The big question is "does any
one have one for sale?" Best regards,
Trung T. Nguyen,
P.E.
I have come across the
MACV Ration Cards from time to time in my travels, an own a couple. They seem to
have been issued for the sales control of commodities such as tobacco for a 12
month period, and the one time purchase of radios, tape recorders, cameras,
electric fans, record players (remember those?), typewriters, etc. (Can you
imagine humping a typewriter into the bush? I guess it was for the
REMF's...) ebven a REFRIGERATOR! What I find most intriguing, is the way
the electronics are "controlled": they are listed as:
camera (still) -
camera (movie) -
radio $20 & under -
radio $30 & under -
tape recorder $75 & under -
taper recorder over $75 and so
on.
The Ration Cards are formally known as MACV Form 333 and the two I
own were printed on 1 Apr 68.
Editor
2002
W.W. II
numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar, July 2002
Session I
Session II (Sunday, 7 July through Thursday, 11 July, 2002)
general events will return
WESPMEX: 27 - 28 July
Westchester Paper Money
Exposition - 175 Dealers
Westchester County Center, White Plains,
NY
WESPMEX: 11 - 13 October
Westchester Paper Money
Exposition - 100 Dealers
Westchester County Center, White Plains,
NY
WESPMEX: 29 November - 1 December
Westchester
Paper Money Exposition - 160 Dealers
Westchester County Center, White Plains,
NY
MPC Fest
IV: 28 Feb - 2 March, Port Clinton, OH
Jack Lippincot, Kevin Maloy,
Leo May$$, Fred Schwan, David Seelye, Nick
Shrier, Larry Smulczenski, Warner Talso,
Marcus Turner, Tom
Warburton
ANA: 19-22 March, Charlotte, NC
FILING IS CLOSED FOR 2002 SCHOLARSHIP
APPLICATIONS
Donations now being accepted
for 2003 scholarships.
c/o Marcus Turner
8103 East US Highway 36
Suite 163
Avon, IN 46123
maturner@indy.rr.com
===================================================
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They deserve
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Allens
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info@allens.com
American Coins &
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865-3562
American Numismatic Ass'n
(800)
367-9723
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Guy
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(562) 945-7891 (310)
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489-8130 (212) 581-8130
Cookie Jar
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Guido Crapanzano
[39]
2-8056228 [39] 2-4459856
Currency Dealer
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493-4758 (602) 494-9103
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FUN
(407)
321-8747
Larry
Gibbs
(308)
635-7900
oth@prairieweb.com
Philip M. Goldstein
(845)
254-MPC1 [6721]
iwantmympc@aol.com or MPC Website
Great Lakes Bank Note
Company (419) 732-6683
IBNS
joeboling@aol.com
Essie Kashani
(909)
627-3996 (909) 627-2776
kashani10@aol.com
Lowel Horwdel
(765)
583-2748 (765) 583-4584
horwdel@inshightbb.com
Peter
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Smithsonian Research
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271-8391 (305) 720-0659
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Banknotes
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(416)
445-0286 (416) 445-0286
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(419)
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(504)
361-5684
bobreed@rrcoins.net
Fred Schwan
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732-6683 (419) 732-6683
FredSchwan@yahoo.com
David Seelye
(585)
594-1987 (585) 594-2311
coinman@rochester.rr.com
Richie Self
(318)
868-9077
R. M. Smythe
(800)
622-1880 (212) 908-4047
www.smytheonline.com
Mel Steinberg &
Son
(415)
453-9750 (415) 457-4432
melsteinberg@mindspring.com
Military Trader
(800)
334-7165
Scott Winslow Associates
(603)
472-7040 (603) 472-8773
scott@scottwinslow.com
George Warner
(307)
672-3700
Pam West
[44]
0208 641 3224 [44] 0208 641 3224 pamwestbritnotes@compuserve.com
Series 541
$5 front: vf+ / back:
vf
$2250
SN
F02031284F PN 4
Series 541 $10
xf /
xf
$1250
SN
F11420626F PN 28
Series 591
$5 f / f - with hole in
center from
folding
$400
SN
G01590625G PN
49
Series 591
$10 unc - with 1/8" tear top dead center
-
$3000
SN
G02225825G PN
29
cannot be seen when in holder - sharp square corners, the unc in
Lyn Knights auction sold for 6k+, this is an affordable
alternative
Series 611 $5 vf+ /
vf+
$1300
SN
H02336122H PN 43
Series 611 $10 xf+
/ xf+ gorgeous note. 3 light folds, but looks
au
$450
SN
04598956H PN 25
reply to Phil:
iwantmympc@aol.com
Series 471 1
Dollar
F
14.00
Series 471 1
Dollar
VF
29.50
Series 471 1
Dollar
VF-EF
40.00
Series 471 1
Dollar
EF
85.00
Series 471 1
Dollar
AU
150.00
Series 471 1
Dollar
CH. UNC bent corner else
175.00
Series 471 5
Dollars
F
675.00
Series 471 5
Dollars
VF
1250.00
Series 471 5
Dollars
EF
2500.00
Series 471 10
Dollars
EF
600.00
Series 471 10
Dollars
AU
1000.00
Series 471 10
Dollars
UNC
2250.00
contact David
Seelye at coinman@rochester.rr.com
(626)
Comprehensive
Catalog of Military Payment Certificates - 4th Edition
by Fred Schwan
Collectors’s Edition (432 pages!)
$ 95
Researcher's Edition (432 page, 46 produced, limited to
availability) $125
All orders plus $4 shipping per
order (NOT per book). Send snail mail payment to:
BNR Press
132 E. Second Street
Port Clinton,
OH 43452
fredschwan@yahoo.com
Collectors may
submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here.
Dealers
and collectors who have these items, are then encouraged to list them for sale
in the above section as a reply.
Wanted listings will run for a period of 1
month.
===================================================
Page 18, Bottom - Users of Military Payment
Certificates
Check marks were omitted from production copies of books.
Please check off the following:
Australia:
641, 661, 681, 692
Canada:
461 through
and including 591
Korea:
641,
661, 681, 692
New Zealand: 641, 661, 681, 692
Thailand:
641, 661, 681, 692
United States: All
Page 201, Bottom Right - Very last sentence on this page
Two serial numbers listed for the second printing of
Series 472 .50 cent
notes. The first serial number listed is obviously in error as a nine
digit number: C040351392C
Correct Serial Number is:
C04035139C
D Freyser (date
listed 10 April 2002)
Page 207,
#833/4 - Series 481 .25 4th Printing (table listing serial number
breakdowns) line 5
Start Number is incorrect. It appears as:
(start)
D14784001D (end) D14784000D
Correct start number should
be: D09408001D
PK6 (date listed: 03
APRIL 2002)
Page
214, #855/r2 - Series 541 $1 Replacements,
Ending serial number is
incorrect
Correct number is F1112000
(date listed: 02 APRIL 2002)
Page 220, #884/2r - Series 641 .50
Replacements
On page 284, it is broken down into 2 printings. That's
correct, BUT, on page 220 he lists only (1) printing reported. It should "list"
both first and second printings.
Guy Araby (date listed 04 APRIL 2002)
Page 287, Series 661 Series Summary, 25 cent note: the
"list" shows "#CU as 10(7) . It should read, 8(7). As only 8 are known in CU.
Just recount P.289.
Guy Araby (date listed 08 APRIL 2002)
Page 398, Series #541 $10 on "UNC." price is
$2500, on P.214 the UNC. price is $3500. Also the rest of the prices don't match
all the way to "VG" on this issue. They should be the same
price.
Guy Araby (date
listed 08 APRIL 2002)
MPC Gram
Staff:
Publisher:
Fred Schwan -
MPCGram@yahoo.com
Editor:
Philip M. Goldstein -
IWANTMYMPC@aol.com
Subscription
Manager:
Doug Bell
-
doug@papermoneyworld.net
Tuesday Columnist :
Joe
Boling -
JoeBoling@aol.com
Thurski Columnist:
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"Ski" Smulczenski - skifla@prodigy.net
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Columnist:
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Kroll -
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Distribution Manager:
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Peacock -
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Coordinator:
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Webmaster & Technical Advisors: Doug Bell "Wiz" -
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Russ Walsh
-
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Fact Checker:
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Talso
-
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Coordinator:
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The Boss:
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Schwan -