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1 Franc - Chambre de Commerce de Marseille 13
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Marseille |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Blue and cream letterpress note with a central oval guilloche panel bearing the denomination UN FRANC in large red letterpress capitals. To the left, a circular vignette encloses an allegorical female head wearing a cogwheel crown, symbolising industry; to the right, a matching roundel contains a second allegorical female portrait. The arms of Marseille appear on a decorative cartouche at centre-bottom, flanked by elaborate scrollwork and foliate underprint. The issuer's title CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE MARSEILLE runs across the top border, with series letter and serial number at lower left and right respectively, and manuscript signature lines for the Trésorier and Membres Délégués within the central oval. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blue and pink letterpress reverse, with the issuer's title repeated across the top border flanked by caduceus vignettes. A large central oval wreath frame encloses a multi-line deliberation extract dated 5 Juin 1917, stating the Chamber's resolution to issue a new series of Un Franc coupures redeemable against Banque de France notes. Denomination roundels marked 1 Fr appear at lower left and right, with the designer's credit H. ROUIT INV.T & DEL. at lower left and the printer's imprint IMP. MOULLOT MARSEILLE at lower right. |
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| Comments |
Marseille's Chamber of Commerce began issuing its own emergency fractional notes in 1914 when wartime hoarding stripped France of small coinage almost overnight. By 1917, the Moullot & fils aîné firm — a well-established Marseille commercial printer, not a specialist banknote house — had produced multiple series for the chamber, this being among the later runs. The watermark was a concession to security, but these notes circulated in a port city with a transient population, and counterfeiting of chamber notes nationally was a known problem by mid-war.
Rouit's design credit is unusual — named designers on French emergency issues of this period are relatively uncommon, most chambers having used anonymous house art.