1 Franc - chambre de commerce de Belfort 90

The Chambre de Commerce de Belfort issued emergency fractional notes like this one under the authority granted to regional chambers of commerce during and after the First World War, when metal coinage had been systematically hoarded, melted, or absorbed into the war economy. By 1921, the acute coin shortage had eased in most of France, but Belfort — historically isolated as a fortified enclave separated from the rest of Alsace after 1871 — had particular logistical reasons to maintain its own local fiduciary circulation longer than neighboring departments.

Printed locally by Eugène Devillers & ses Fils, a Belfort firm, rather than farmed out to the major Paris security printers used by larger chambers. The JP#23 series encompasses three catalogue references (60, 61, 62), distinguishing minor typographic or date variants within an otherwise uniform issue.