============================================== 'General Clay's Marks' ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== ANA Seminar: 29 June to 5 July 2003 CPMX 9: 20 - 23 February, $$ = Paid ===================================================
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FOR SALE SECTION: scans available upon request! Standard Edition (400 pages!)
$ 50 ===================================================
MPC GRAM
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Covering the entire World of Military Numismatics
Series 003 -
Number 632 Sunday - 26 MAY 2002
___________________
__278 days to Fest IV__
FEATURED ARTICLE
1948 Currency Reform (Germany)
submitted by Jim Downey
From Pravda's
special correspondent in Berlin Exactly a week ago, the high commander of the
American occupied troops, General Clay, and the high commander of English
troops, General Robertson, announced in writing to Soviet Union Marshal Sokolsky
that separate monetary reform will not be extended to Western sectors of Berlin.
Today on the streets of the Western
sectors of the German capital, it was easy to learn the value of their official
declarations.
The English and
American occupation authorities are circulating a new currency, fabricated in
the United States. Germans already nicknamed them "General Clay's Marks." It
became known recently that four days before Clay and Robertson's declaration,
"General Clay's Marks" were secretly brought into Berlin in bags on planes.
Already, the divisive actions by
the authorities of the Western occupation zones have made life extraordinarily
painful in Berlin. I drove through empty streets of the Western regions of the
German capital. Everywhere, stores, pharmacies, shops were closed. From
conversations with inhabitants of the city I was able to deduce what kind of
measures were taken to attempt to tie them to "General Clay's Marks." All the
inhabitants of the Western sectors are obliged to have stamps in their passports
certifying receipt of those Marks. The occupying authorities warned that people
who do not have stamps in their passports in the following month will not get
their ration cards.
But this is not
all; the governments of the Western countries are seeking, in all possible ways,
to prohibit the process of exchanging the old currency bills to the new money
from the Soviet zone and the Greater Berlin region. This exchange is being
carried out in defense of the interests of the German inhabitants, who lose out
as a result of the flow of worthless money from Western Germany.
In the Soviet sector of occupied
Berlin, about 1,300 exchange points are open, which could be used by all city
dwellers without exception. However, Western sector police were ordered to
destroy all posters that announced the terms of exchanging the old currency
bills for the new ones -- Reichsmarks and Rentmarks with specially glued coupons
-- and that displayed the location of exchange points in the Soviet sector of
occupied Berlin. Policemen carefully tore those posters off the walls and
arrested the employees of the advertising company that was appointed to display
them.
It has come to such a point
that on Thursday, English patrols tried to stop pedestrians who were walking to
the exchange points. In order to intimidate inhabitants of the Western sectors
of Berlin and at the same time prevent them from obtaining the new currency of
the Soviet zone, American occupational authorities send their armored cars to
the city streets. ... The desire of the rulers of the Western countries to cause
financial and economic chaos in the capital of Germany is met by serious anger
from Berlin's working people.
Just
recently, delegations from Berlin's major factories appeared at City Council,
urging the introduction in Berlin of the currency that is already available in
the Soviet zone. Delegates sneaked into the council's meeting room, handed out
more than 40 resolutions of protest against the introduction of "General Clay's
Marks" in the Western sectors of Berlin, and demanded that the council should
declare single currency reform for all Berlin.
Near the council building, a
spontaneous demonstration arose in which thousands of Berlin's workers took
part. Delegates of factories and businesses waited until late evening for the
council's statement. It is hard to report how deeply they were angered when they
learned that factions of Social Democrat and bourgeois parties, bowing to
Western occupying countries, passed a decision demanding that the occupying
authorities admit as official currency in Berlin not only the new money of the
Soviet occupation zone but also "General Clay's Marks."
Today on Potsdamerstrasse in the
American sector, I had a chance to see how police, fulfilling the requests of
American authorities, violently treated those who act in defense of single
currency reform, in defense of the unity of Germany. I saw how they dispersed a
group of pedestrians who took the liberty to say a few uncomplimentary words
about the separate reform undertaken in the Western occupation zones. This is
how the German policemen, who hurried in an American car to "the scene of
crime," acted:
They twisted the
hands of people they arrested, beat them and threw them into the car. Among the
arrested was a young girl, nearly a teen-ager, a newspaper salesman, and even a
cameraman who came to photograph the incredible scene of intimidation of
innocent people. The news about tough treatment of working people is coming from
the Western zones of occupied Germany. For example in Nuermberg, at the City
Council, a crowd of 2,000 assembled and waited a few hours for a currency
exchange. Police started to disperse the crowd. The operation was commanded by
the police chief of Nuremberg. A few wounded people in critical condition were
taken to a hospital.
The facts are
telling that the currency separation, carried out by order of the rulers of the
Western countries, has sharpen the already difficult situation in Bizonia.
Bavarian state parliament member Max Drexel had to admit that as a result of the
separate reform, the number of unemployed in Western Germany rose to 6 million
or 7 million. In Hamburg, businesses laid off more than 2,000 people during
first three days after the introduction of the separate currency reform. Within
the next month, further layoffs of about 20,000 people are expected.
In Nuermberg, (sic) the "Konrad"
factory, which manufactured carbon electrodes, is closed. Here, and in other
major cities of Western Germany, construction work has ceased, home-building has
ceased -- the city councilors do not have the financial means to pay the
workers. To minimize the catastrophic size of unemployment, the Bavarian labor
minister has directed that working hours be cut in half.
The situation of Western Germany's
inhabitants remains hopeless. Some time ago, the press in the Western occupation
zones reported the arrival of a load of textile goods from the U.S.A. as an
unusual "American blessing." Soon, some details became clear. Those goods were
destined to western Africa, but it turned out to be of poor quality and did not
find any buyers.
Then brave
American entrepreneurs redirected those goods from African colonies to a
European one -- Bizonia. So, after the separate currency reform, textiles
rejected by modest Africans appeared in Bizonia. Western German economists
foresee an increase in economic tensions. This is already clear because prices
started to climb just after currency reform. In Munich, for example, the price
of butter and cigarettes doubled in four days. Similar news is coming from
Frankfurt. Not only are prices of mass consumption goods rising. Also of concern
is the price of coal: it may rise, and if it does, it will be a significant
increase. Prices for briquettes will rise by 35 percent, and prices for brown
coal by 50 percent. It should also be mentioned that economic chaos, which had
sharpened in Bizonia after the introduction of separate reform, hit hardest for
mid-sized and small businesses, which lack capital. As a result of separate
currency reform, their owners had to close or sell to bigger industrialists,
which is putting the concentration of capital in the hands of big German
monopolists in the West. Simultaneously acting through covert agents, American
concerns are even more actively purchasing factories and businesses they find
interesting.
This is the role
played by "General Clay's Marks" in Western Germany. American monopolists would
like to use the same weapon in the region of Greater Berlin, which also appeared
to be part of the Soviet occupation zone in terms of economics. The democratic
society of Berlin is expressing its belief that, regardless of all the maneuvers
of those who would divide Berlin, in the end the currency of Berlin will be the
money of the Soviet zone.
Do I write
you re: wanted items? Would you see that the following is published? Wanted:
Philippine Guerilla Currency. There have been some really great articles the
past couple of weeks! Thank everyone for me. Thanks again,
Jack
The above article on the
West German Currency Reform of 1948, is in interesting read. Not so much for the
numismatic standpoint, but the propaganda. Since the Cold War has ended, I feel
that the majority of the general population has conveniently forgotten the
measures both sides took to belittle the opposite side. The above article is a
classic case. In conclusion, after reading the article submitted by Jim Downey,
I only had one thought. We, the United States of America, with all our faults,
foilables, and embarrasing political situations did not crumble into a selection
of seperate states and countries bickering over terrotories and governments.
We won the Cold War. Thanks to the countless veterans who sacrificed
thir lives. Remember them, come tomorrow: Memorial Day. A day that many
view as a "day off" to go shopping, visiting yard sales and flea markets..
lighting up the bar-b-que... In the local towns by me, the posts of the VFW,
DAR, American Legion, all come together to march up Main Street, in full
uniform, rain of shine. May I suggest a little drive to a small town, and watch
the veterans? That my fellow readers, is what Memorial Day is all about. And
that I believe is what won the Cold War.
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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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
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:
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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.
WANTED - Fancy Series
641 fractional notes - any condition. (5/18)
WANTED - Philippine
Guerrila Money (5/26)
===================================================
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)
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