Allied Military Currency World War II
World War II currency came with a recent donation from the family of Isaac K. Notestine, a 1st Lieutenant in World War II during the Italian Campaign.
He was a longtime Sturgis resident moving from Indiana as an adult with his wife, Ruth, and daughters Jane (Dickey) and Rita (Good).
This won’t be the only time I’ll be using items Notestine brought home from his time of service. He saved very interesting things. Indeed, Notestine was a very interesting and decorated soldier.
When America entered into the war in Europe, U.S. soldiers would use the U.S. dollar in local villages and towns. However, it caused problems for the local economies and drove up inflation for the weak local currency. Also enemy troops could snag the money to use or sell in the black market.
To solve some of these problems Allied powers issued Allied Military Currency – French Franc’s, German Marks, Italian Lire and Austrian Shillings.
It was printed in color with denominations from 1 to 1000. The back of the currency had four phrases – Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear. To us it might look like Monopoly money or fake money but it was real for Notestine and others in the military. He saved currency from Italy and some other countries.
Rachel Boland is a dedicated volunteer archivist for the Sturgis Historical Museum.
