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1 Franc - Chambre de Commerce de Grenoble 38
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Grenoble |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Franc |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE GRENOBLE DÉLIBÉRATION DU 14 SEPTEMBRE 1916 UN FRANC ÉCHANGEABLE CONTRE DES BILLETS DE LA BANQUE DE FRANCE Le Trésorier Le Président Série 123 08,124 IMP. B. ARNAUD LYON - PARIS |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in green on an aged paper stock, with an elaborate Art Nouveau-style border incorporating scrollwork, lace-pattern guilloche panels, and small animal vignettes at the upper corners. A large arched central frame encloses a panoramic engraved view of the city of Grenoble set against a mountain backdrop, with the denomination '1 FRANC' overprinted in large red mirror-image letters across the upper portion of the vignette. A rectangular panel at the bottom contains the redemption clause in French. |
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| Comments |
French Chambers of Commerce were granted emergency issuing authority in August 1914 specifically to address the coin shortage that followed mobilization — hoarding of metal currency had stripped small-denomination circulation almost overnight. Grenoble's chamber was among the earlier provincial authorities to act on this, producing notes through B. Arnaud of Villeurbanne, a regional printer better known for commercial printing work than fiduciary production. The watermark was a minimum concession to security; these notes circulated in a regional economy where the issuer was locally trusted and counterfeiting sophisticated paper was beyond most opportunists.
The JP#63 reference covers multiple suffix varieties distinguished by serial letter groupings, making condition and variety attribution the primary collector variables here.