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Obverse Design
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Book cover has a large rectangle with a double line border. The outer line is
about three times as thick as the inner line. Within the rectangle in the
upper left corner it says "THE COUPONS IN THIS BOOK ARE" on one line
and "GOOD FOR THEIR FACE VALUE" on a line under it. In the upper right
corner it says "$10.00" in a large font size which is the total face value
of all the chits in the book. At the top, in between these two corners,
and to the right of center in small print it says "PRINTED", "IN"
and "U.S.A.". The "PRINTED" is curved up in an arc and the "U.S.A." is curved
downward in an arc, forming an oval with "IN" in the center.
Under these three areas are the book titles. The top line in a larger font size
says "ATLANTIC AREA INSTALLATION COMMAND". The second line in a smaller font
size says "Non-Commissioned Officers' Open Mess".
The third line (in the same font as the top line) says "FORT DAVIS, CANAL ZONE".
In smaller print starting at the left the next line says "Issued to" and has
a line where the recipient would write their name. The next line says
"Countersigned by" and a line for this signature.
Under that the next line says "Date" and has a line for the date which goes
about half way across the book. Under the date line in smaller print it
says "Not Transferable - Not Good If Detached".
In a larger font size in the lower right corner it says
"NO" and the serial number of the
book; "8751C" in the example above. This serial number is repeated on all the
chits inside the book.
Outside the rectangle along the left written sideways and going from the
bottom to the top of the book it says
"Kelsey-Tiemeyer Coupon, Cin. O. 45244" in small print.
The left edge has the black material used to bind this book.
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Other Details
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This book had five chits on each page. The chits were in the denominations
of 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents and 50 cents. This book may have had four pages
of 5 cent chits ($ 1.00), three pages of 10 cent chits ($1.50), two pages of
25 cent chits ($2.50) and two pages of 50 cents ($5.00) (a book from another
series had this particular combination of pages, which is one of the possible
ways to arrive at a total of $10.00).
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Color
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Pale Yellow with black ink.
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Material
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Light-weight cardboard.
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Size and Shape
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Rectangular, approximately 129mm wide by 51 mm high.
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Dates Issued
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Sometime after 1963 (when zip codes came into use).
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Issurer
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Atlantic Area Installation Command (A.A.I.C.) Non-Commissioned Officer's
Open Mess, based at Fort Davis.
Fort William D. Davis was on the Atlantic side of Panama.
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Mintage
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Unknown.
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Rarity
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Very Rare.
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Manufacturer
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Kelsey-Tiemeyer Coupon of Cincinatti, Ohio.
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Source
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Plowman's color photocopy of Fickling's specimen.
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Varieties
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There are two known book varieties, with the same design in different colors.
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Function
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Book of mess (cafeteria) chits.
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Notes
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For population count, known specimens are as follows:
- Fickling Specimen #8751C, pictured above.
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