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1 Franc
| Issuer | Banque d'Emission de Lille |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
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| Value | 1 Franc |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 294 Y.73 BANQUE D'EMISSION DE LILLE UN FRANC 12 Mars 1915 L'Administrateur délégué le Président Société anonyme au capital de cent mille francs Y.73 294 |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Banque d'Emission de Lille was a wartime improvisation. When German forces occupied northern France in late 1914, they severed the region from the Banque de France entirely — no notes could circulate in from Paris, no coinage flowed freely. Local chambers of commerce and improvised banking bodies across occupied and near-occupied France responded by issuing their own small-denomination emergency paper, and Lille was among the first. This 1 Franc dates to 1915, the first full year of occupation.
The watermark is notable given the circumstances — maintaining even basic security features under wartime production constraints in a partially occupied industrial city required deliberate effort.