Legal-tender dollars were not meant to flood Saigon. From 1946 the Army paid its people in Military Payment Certificates: dollar paper that was good only on base. Anyone going to the local market changed them at the window; a civilian could not change them back, and unauthorized possession of MPC was forbidden. That cut the black market and kept federal greenbacks from depreciating South Vietnam’s đồng — the piaster of military speech.
The system’s weapon was C-Day, classified and unannounced. That day troops were confined to base and had a short window to exchange the current series. The outgoing notes woke up worthless: the hoarder’s paper became play money. Fifteen series were printed from 1946 to 1973; thirteen circulated. Tudor Press and Forbes Lithograph printed the early ones, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from Series 611, always in offset lithography — four inks on the face, two on the back, colored planchettes — not the intaglio of Federal Reserve Notes, and without a Treasury seal.
In Vietnam the program had its own theater and four series. Series 641, 31 August 1965 to 21 October 1968, was the first used only there: 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, and 50¢ and $1, $5, and $10. Series 661, 21 October 1968 to 11 August 1969, brought the $20. Series 681 ran from 11 August 1969 to 7 October 1970. Series 692, last of all, lost its fractionals on 1 June 1971 and its dollar notes on 15 March 1973. Series 651, despite the neighboring number, was used in Japan, Libya, and South Korea, not in Vietnam; Series 701 was printed for this theater and never issued.
This case is not Schwan’s complete catalog: it is the inventory of the Vietnam pieces that will be documented here. Note pages are already up for the Series 641 $10, serial J01130273J; the Series 661 $5, serial B03327560B; the Series 681 $1, serial C10102847C; and the Series 692 $20, serial E05725119E. Further pieces will be published as they are photographed, as in the Philippines case.
The Vietnam theater
- Denominations
- Fractionals: 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, and 50¢. Dollars: $1, $5, and $10; the $20 from Series 661.
- Printing
- Color offset lithography, planchettes; no Treasury seal.
- Authority
- An armed-forces instrument (War Department, later Defense); not a Treasury note.
Series 651 (28 April 1969) circulated in Japan, Libya, and South Korea. Series 701 was printed for Vietnam and never issued.
The rest of the federal, colonial, and obsolete paper is documented in the United States case. United States
1946–1973
The MPC program
Dollar-denominated paper for overseas bases: not legal tender, and a secret C-Day could void it overnight.
In July 1946 the War Department and the Treasury tried a military payment system; Series 461 followed in September. Military Payment Certificates were an armed-forces instrument — not a Treasury note — and circulated only among authorized personnel, on base. They were neither U.S. legal tender nor local currency. Possession outside that circle, especially by a Vietnamese civilian, was forbidden. They paid the PX, the post office, and base services, and could be changed into the host country’s money, never the reverse: that kept federal dollars from feeding the black market or depreciating South Vietnam’s đồng, the piaster of military speech. C-Day — Conversion Day — was classified and unannounced. Troops were confined to base; a short window exchanged the current series. The outgoing notes woke up worthless so hoarders could not stockpile them. Fifteen series were printed; thirteen circulated and two were never issued. Tudor Press and Forbes Lithograph, in Boston, produced the early series; the Bureau of Engraving and Printing took over from Series 611. Unlike the intaglio of Federal Reserve Notes, MPCs were offset-lithographed — cheap and highly colorful: four inks on the face and two on the back — on paper with colored planchettes, and they carry no Treasury seal.
1965–1968
Series 641
The first series used only in Vietnam: 31 August 1965 to 21 October 1968. Seven denominations, without a $20 note.
Series 641 — 64 for the design year and 1 for the first issue of that year — was the ninth of the program and the first confined to Vietnam. On 31 August 1965 it replaced, in that theater, the federal paper troops still carried; a C-Day withdrew it on 21 October 1968. Denominations were 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents and $1, $5, and $10. The BEP printed it, as with the later series. The American Numismatic Association calls it one of the most common and longest-circulating issues. It should not be confused with Series 651, issued 28 April 1969 for Japan, Libya, and South Korea: that series did not circulate in Vietnam.
1968–1969
Series 661
On 21 October 1968 it replaced Series 641. First Vietnam series with a $20 note; withdrawn 11 August 1969.
Series 661 was born on the same C-Day that ended Series 641 and lasted less than ten months: another conversion withdrew it on 11 August 1969. Like 641, it was exclusive to Vietnam. The Treasury had added the $20 to the program in the mid-1960s; this was the first Vietnam series to carry it, with the fractionals and the $1, $5, and $10. Schwan’s catalog and the Bank Note Museum list it as M64–M71. The ANA notes that the $10 and $20 of this issue are clearly scarcer than the low values.
1969–1970
Series 681
11 August 1969 to 7 October 1970: the penultimate conversion in Vietnam, with the eight denominations then standard.
Series 681 covered the year when withdrawal had already begun and the bases still paid in MPC. On 11 August 1969 it replaced Series 661; on 7 October 1970 a new C-Day exchanged it for Series 692. It kept the $20 and the fractionals. The Bank Note Museum numbers it M75–M82. In Korea a Series 691 was printed to replace 651; it was never issued and almost all of the paper returned to the United States. That series does not belong in this Vietnam case.
1970–1973
Series 692
Last series of the program: bison on the $1, Ouray on the $20; fractionals until 1 June 1971 and dollar notes until 15 March 1973.
Series 692 — the second series designed in 1969, because 691 never circulated — was issued on 7 October 1970. On 1 June 1971 the 5-, 10-, 25-, and 50-cent notes were withdrawn: U.S. coins sufficed on base. The $1, $5, $10, and $20 continued until 15 March 1973, the program’s last C-Day. The BEP dressed it in American themes: the $1 carries on its back Pablo the bison — the same engraving as the 1901 $10 Legal Tender; the $10, Lakota chief Hollow Horn Bear; the $20, Ute chief Ouray. A Series 701, intended for Vietnam, was printed and never released as withdrawal accelerated. MPCs ceased to be used; the program was not formally cancelled until 2003. This case will gather, as they are photographed, the Vietnam series in the collection, with Schwan or Pick references when they exist.
Sources
- American Numismatic Association — Military Payment Certificates (opens in a new tab)
Issue and withdrawal dates for Series 641, 661, 681, and 692; Series 651 outside Vietnam; Series 692 fractionals withdrawn 1 June 1971.
- CoinWeek — Money of Necessity: U.S. Military Payment Certificates (opens in a new tab)
1946 origin, use only by authorized personnel, C-Day with bases closed, four- and two-color offset lithography, planchettes, the Boston printers, and the BEP from Series 611; fifteen series printed, thirteen issued.
- Bank Note Museum — United States, Military Payment Certificates (M1–M106) (opens in a new tab)
Schwan/Pick numbering for Series 641 (M57–M63), 661 (M64–M71), 681 (M75–M82), and 692 (M91–M98).
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing — Military Payment Certificates (fact sheet) (opens in a new tab)
Places Series 641, 661, 681, and 692 in Vietnam; Series 651 in Japan, Libya, and South Korea.
- 720th Military Police Battalion — MPC history (opens in a new tab)
Timeline of the Vietnam series and the split withdrawal of Series 692 (fractionals / dollars).
- Art-Hanoi — MPC Series 692 (P-M83 to P-M89) (opens in a new tab)
Identifies the bison on the $1 back, Hollow Horn Bear on the $10, and the 1 June 1971 withdrawal of the fractionals.