Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Franc - Chambre de Commerce de Bourges [18]
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Bourges |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | H. Richy |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Brown and ochre letterpress reverse with a rich ornamental upper border composed of two putti supporting a central oval cartouche bearing the combined coat of arms of the Département du Cher and the city of Bourges, flanked by interlaced monogram medallions 'CC' at each corner. The lower half is occupied by a rectangular panel of legal text in French guaranteeing the note against an equal deposit at the Banque de France, with the denomination value '1F' in shield cartouches at each lower corner and the serial number printed in black below the text. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Without watermark |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Bourges Chamber of Commerce began issuing these emergency fractional notes in 1915 as small-denomination coinage disappeared almost entirely from French circulation — hoarded by the public and consumed by the war economy in equal measure. Hundreds of French chambres de commerce issued similar emergency paper during 1914–1918, but Bourges is notable for using a strictly local printer, Vve Tardy-Pigelet & Fils, whose principal name appears in the designer credit as J. Tardy — a family firm printing its own chamber's currency.
The watermark security measure was modest but deliberate, given how aggressively these small notes were counterfeited across provincial France during the war years.