MILITARY PAYMENT CERTIFICATES



The U.S. Armed Forces began using Military Payment Certificates (MPCs) right after the Second World War. It seems likely that they were used at Camp Page as soon as it opened in 1958 and continued to be used until the military discontinued them in 1973. There would have been at least four MPC series used there, Series 541, 591, 611, and 651.

When I arrived in 1967, Series 611 was in use. The change to Series 651 occurred on April 28, 1969, and several of us in Commcenter Section were held under armed guard in the Commcenter for over 24 hours in order to ensure that no one revealed what was going on. The post itself was locked down, with no one allowed in or out. The secret changeover was intended to disrupt black market operations in the affected areas (not only Korea).

Series 611 was issued in three denominations, $1, $5, and $10. They looked like this:








They were replaced with these Series 651 bills:







If you brought any of these home with you and you still have them, you should check into what they are worth today. A crisp $5 Series 651 bill like the one above can sell for more than $200!
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