1 Franc

The Direction Générale des Finances stepped in as note issuer during the First World War precisely because the Banque de l'Algérie — the usual currency authority for the Protectorate — could not adequately supply small-denomination paper to Tunisia's markets. Metal coinage had been hoarded or melted, and the gap at the low end of daily commerce was acute by 1917–18.

Printed entirely in Tunis by a collaboration between Weber's lithographic house and the Yvorpa, Barlier & Clavé press, this is a locally produced emergency note in every sense — conception, execution, and distribution all handled within the Protectorate rather than routed through metropolitan France. The P#43 series is notoriously prone to foxing and edge fraying, a consequence of the low-grade wartime paper stock used.