1 Franc

Tunisia's Direction Générale des Finances stepped in as note issuer during a period when small-denomination coinage had effectively vanished from circulation — a problem that afflicted most of the French colonial world in the aftermath of the First World War. Metal hoarding and export left a practical void that temporary paper substitutes were meant to fill.

Printed locally by Yvorra & Barlier rather than shipped from metropolitan France, this is an emergency issue in the strictest sense. The sole security feature is an official stamp — applied by hand — which means forgery detection depended entirely on that impression remaining legible. Copies with faded or smudged stamps are a known problem with the series.