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1 Franc - Chambre de Commerce de Bayonne 64
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Bayonne |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Brown letterpress design on cream paper, headed DÉPARTEMENT DES BASSES-PYRÉNÉES. The central vignette consists of an octagonal seal of the Chambre de Commerce de Bayonne bearing a sailing ship and the motto VIGENT FIDE, flanked by two heraldic shields on oak-leaf branches: the left bearing the arms of Bayonne with the motto NUNQUAM POLLUTA, and the right bearing the arms of the House of Navarre with the motto URBIS PALLADIUM ET GENTIS. A redemption notice is printed at the foot within a decorative scroll border. |
| Reverse lettering | DÉPARTEMENT DES BASSES-PYRÉNÉES VIGENT FIDE NUNQUAM POLLUTA URBIS PALLADIUM ET GENTIS CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE BAYONNE Ce billet devra être présenté au remboursement avant le 1er Juin 1923. |
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| Comments |
French chambers of commerce were authorized to issue emergency small-denomination notes during World War I specifically because the hoarding of metal coinage created a near-total breakdown in everyday retail transactions. Bayonne's chamber, serving the Basque commercial hub in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, joined dozens of regional bodies producing their own fractional paper between 1914 and the early 1920s. The practical result was a patchwork of locally redeemable scrip that technically circulated only within each chamber's jurisdiction — though enforcement of that boundary was essentially impossible.
The JP#21 reference covers two catalogue numbers (59 and 60), indicating at least one distinguishing variant within the type, likely a date or signature difference.