Allied Military Certificates (AMC)or American Military Script

Priorto 1946, and the introduction of Military Payment Certificates, U.S.military personnel stationed overseas were paid in Allied militarycurrency, produced by the major Allied countries. The need for thissystem arose because of the necessity to transact business with thelocals without risking the loss of large amounts of U.S. currency,which could be used anywhere in the world.

Another reason for the creation ofAllied military currency was the possibility that the enemy mightflood an occupied territory\'s economy with currency to induce highinflation, or order local banks to burn their money when Alliedattack was imminent. Allied military currency was used in countriesbeing liberated from the Axis powers and the notes were denominatedin the liberated country\'s currency. The local government wasrequired to redeem it later. (Coin World)

Allied Military Currency(AMC)was issued during World War II, often in European countries, for useby Allied Occupying soldiers. These notes were intended for use bysoldiers to purchase commodities like cigarettes, coffee, fruits,vegetables, and toiletries. Since these were in short supply for thepopulation, they were often used for gambling.
The success of Hawaiian and North African notes led to the creationof AMC. To prevent the enemy from capturing or counterfeiting anddevaluing the US economy, Hawaiian currency notes were issued by theUSA. Later North African notes were carried by US soldiers whenlanding on the continent of Africa.

AlliedMilitary Currency also known as A.M.C. was issued first in Italy in1943. There were two issues for that country, because the financedivision noted that crafty individuals were \"raising\" thevalue of the notes, that is, altering the note by adding a zero afterthe numeral, to increase its apparent value. Thus, a 1 lira became10, 5 lira became 50, and so on. To eliminate the problem, a secondissue had values spelled out below the numerals. Discouraging blackmarketeering, and controlling devaluation of the host country\'seconomy was accomplished when you needed a military ID to be paid in,and redeem A.M.C. Local black marketeers could not redeem it,therefore, if it was given to them to purchase an item, they couldn\'tturn around and use it to purchase more items.
Following Italy came the France, German, Austria, and Denmark issuesof 1944, which were printed by Forbes Lithograph Co. and the Bureauof Engraving and Printing.
Soldiers based in the States, England and Australia, prior to beingshipped \"over there\" used Canteen Money issued by theirrespective camps and bases to purchase goods in their assignedcanteens and PX\'s.Schofield Barracks and mess halls in Hawaii are an example and theyare widely collected.
During WW2many captured German, Italian and Japanese soldiers were shipped tothe US for holding. These Prisoner of War camps issued still anothertype of Allied Military Currency in the form of booklets, containingstrips of little canteen tickets or coupons, resembling movietickets, in values of 1, 5, or 10 cents.