Like hundreds of French chambers of commerce, Agen filled the coin vacuum created by wartime hoarding and metal requisitioning by issuing its own emergency fractional notes. The small-denomination coinage shortage that began in 1914 never fully resolved itself, which is why issues like this one were still being printed and circulated well into the early 1920s — the JP# series for Agen alone runs to multiple types across that window.
The watermark is the one security feature that distinguishes these from outright private scrip, placing them just inside the threshold of quasi-official currency.
Like hundreds of French chambers of commerce, Agen filled the coin vacuum created by wartime hoarding and metal requisitioning by issuing its own emergency fractional notes. The small-denomination coinage shortage that began in 1914 never fully resolved itself, which is why issues like this one were still being printed and circulated well into the early 1920s — the JP# series for Agen alone runs to multiple types across that window.
The watermark is the one security feature that distinguishes these from outright private scrip, placing them just inside the threshold of quasi-official currency.