In 1923, the Albanian state lacked a functioning national bank and a stable circulating currency. Into that gap stepped several municipalities, Korçë among them, issuing their own fractional notes to keep local commerce moving. The Bashkija e Korçës emissions are among the most locally produced paper money in interwar European history — printed and validated in the town itself, with handstamps serving as the primary authentication against forgery.
The franga argjent was a monetary unit pegged nominally to the gold franc, though in practice these municipal fractions circulated on trust alone. Few survived; small-denomination emergency notes were spent hard and discarded.
In 1923, the Albanian state lacked a functioning national bank and a stable circulating currency. Into that gap stepped several municipalities, Korçë among them, issuing their own fractional notes to keep local commerce moving. The Bashkija e Korçës emissions are among the most locally produced paper money in interwar European history — printed and validated in the town itself, with handstamps serving as the primary authentication against forgery.
The franga argjent was a monetary unit pegged nominally to the gold franc, though in practice these municipal fractions circulated on trust alone. Few survived; small-denomination emergency notes were spent hard and discarded.