Paper money has a broad and vast existence in the United States. From colonial America to the early days of the United States and even throughout war and economic downfalls, currency notes have seen it all. Some of the most unique certificates ever produced, however, are those of the Military Payment Certificates (MPC).
Produced between 1946 and 1973 by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) for the United States Department of Defense, MPCs were a form of scrip, or paper money issued for temporary use. The purpose of the certificates was to pay United States military and civilian personnel in addition to using it for transactions that were done overseas on military bases. A total of 13 series of MPC were issued and later withdrawn. Two series were printed but never issued and were instead stored for potential future use. One series was designed but never printed.
Back in July of 1946, MPC were given their first trial run with success within the Pacific Command. However, MPC is rooted in the Allied Military Currency (AMC) that was first used in Europe and the Pacific during the Second World War. In areas where Allied military actions were planned, AMC was produced for use and printed in the monetary units of the country targeted. Their intention was to supplement existing currency supply and were used by the Allied troops and the locals. They would then be withdrawn from circulation once indigenous currency was issued in sufficient quantities.
Those same AMCs were able to be used by American soldiers to convert into U.S. dollars for when they were transferred back home. There was a downside though when troops accumulated more AMC than their actual pay. This was a problem as there was no way to control the conversion rate of the extra AMC into additional dollars. In order to rectify this, the War Department and the Department of the Treasury approved the new type of military currency, MPCs. After the success of the trial run in July of 1946, August would see the approved use of MPC by the Secretary of War in the Pacific, Mediterranean, and Europe. In September of 1946, the first MPC series was issued, Series 461.
MPCs were used as the official means of exchange for all financial transactions on overseas military bases as they could be used on base and under limited circumstances where it could then be converted to U.S. currency. They could also be exchanged in the local community but could not be converted back into MPCs nor could the local community themselves used them. Once a new series of MPCs were issued, only those authorized could convert them into the new series as the old series would then become obsolete. Printed in dollar units, they were produced from 1946 to 1965 in denominations of 5 cents, 10 cents, 50 cents, $1, $5, and $10. From 1966 to 1973, $20 notes were included.
Source: Bureau of Engraving and Printing