The Military Pay Certificate (MPC) was introduced in 1946 to prevent financial difficulties caused by US currency in foreign economies. Despite attempts to prevent it, MPCs were used in the underground economy. The program ended in 1973, and today, there is a thriving collectibles market for them. The value of an MPC depends on its printing, misprints, and condition. Mint or near-mint quality is rare and valuable.
The Military Pay Certificate (MPC) was first produced in 1946 in response to financial difficulties caused by the introduction of large amounts of US currency into foreign economies. Basically, this program consisted of specially printed paper money that, in theory, could only be used by military personnel. The US, however, underestimated the combined ingenuity of many enlisted soldiers and local businessmen, and the use of MPCs in the underground economy was never successfully eliminated. Still, for the next 27 years, the program would be used with varying degrees of success in most foreign military operations.
In 1973, the United States ended the military pay certificate program. Ironically, the overinflation of the coin’s face value that once plagued the military continued, albeit in a much more acceptable venue. Today, there is a thriving collectibles market for these pieces of history. For example, an MPC printed with a face value of 25 cents in 1948 can sell for as much as $550 dollars (USD).
Like most collectible coins, the value of any military pay certificate depends heavily on the printing of information. The primary identification of any MPC is a three-digit number that can be found on the front of the coin and is preceded by the series of words. The first two digits of serial numbers correspond to the last two digits of the year they were printed. The final digit represents the number of series printed in a given year. As such, an MPC with a serial number of 472 would belong to the second series of certificates printed in 1947.
Generally, the value of a military pay certificate that contains a misprint is increased exponentially. Due to printing processes, these errors often occurred on certificates that held a common position on pre-cut currency sheets. As the uncut sheets contained 100 bills, each position on the sheet was given a number between 1 and 99, and each certificate in that position in a printout of 8,000 sheets was labeled with that code. These position numbers often appeared independently as a one- or two-digit grouping on the front of an MPC.
The condition of a military pay certificate also has a huge impact on its resale value. Mint or near-mint quality is generally defined as maintaining the same appearance as the day of printing. Given the living conditions of the average deployed soldier and the age of MPCs, accounts in this condition are rare and valuable. More common are certificates in good or fair condition.
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