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Auction: 320 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale and the Forest Park Collection
Lot: 1451

[U.S.-Russia]: U.S. Naval Scrip. U.S. Navy Club. Vladivostok. 10 Sen Circa 1918. Eggshell-white and black ink, 57 x 44mm. Signed on the back by naval officer C.H. Rockey. During World War I, the Allies effectively lost the Eastern Front when the newly formed Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending hostilities with Germany. Having already lost an ally to Communism, the Allied nations now also faced the fear that the stockpiles of supplies sitting in Russian ports could be commandeered by the Germans or Bolsheviks. In response, Great Britain, the United States, France and Japan launched an Anti-Bolshevik expeditionary force in 1918, sending troops to Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk. Of the 13,000 U.S. troops that were sent, 8,000 were garrisoned in Vladivostok, having been shipped out from bases in the Philippines and California. The Allied forces were garrisoned for a year and were then withdrawn. This scrip piece is one of the few mementoes of America's involvement in this little known chapter of history. Very Rare and seldom offered. A similar note in Fine sold for $920 in a 2008 Heritage auction. Fine details, spindle hole, two pinholes and small edge tear.

Sold for
$800