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1 Franc
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Constantine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE CONSTANTINE DÉLIBÉRATION DE 12 OCTOBRE 1918 UN FRANC Le Président 1F. IMP. JOURDAN ALGER |
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| Reverse lettering | UN FRANC ECHANGEABLE CONTRE DES BILLETS DE LA BANQUE DE L'ALGÉRIE |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce across French Algeria were authorized to issue emergency fractional notes during World War One to address a severe shortage of small coinage — silver and bronze having effectively vanished from circulation as hoarding accelerated after 1914. Constantine's chamber was one of several Algerian commercial bodies that turned to local printers rather than metropolitan France, a practical necessity given wartime shipping constraints.
Imprimerie Adolphe Jourdan was Algiers' most established printing house, responsible for a significant volume of official Algerian administrative printing. That it handled emergency currency for multiple chambers is unsurprising; what is notable is how rudimentary the security features remained across the entire local issue series, a vulnerability nobody seriously exploited.