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1 Franc - Chambre de Commerce de Nice et des Alpes Maritimes 06
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Nice et des Alpes-Maritimes |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Marius Simon |
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| Obverse description | Designed by Marius Simon of the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs de Nice, the obverse carries the chamber's title across the upper border and the denomination UN FRANC in bold letterpress at centre. The lower portion bears the issuing authority's facsimile signatures for the President and Treasurer, alongside the deliberation date of 19 April 1917 and the ministerial authorisation of 25 April 1917. Series numbers (series 33 to 72) and a five-digit serial number appear in red, with the printer's imprint ROBAUDY – CANNES in the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a red overprint indicating the 1920 reissue, with the legend Émission de 1920 printed across the centre field. Overprinted year dates appear at the upper corners — 1920 at upper left and 1921 at upper right — replacing the original 1917 and 1919 dates respectively. The series number is printed in red, and the repayment clause states that the note is redeemable on presentation at the Banque de France before 31 December 1921, with the printer's imprint ROBAUDY – CANNES at the foot. |
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| Comments |
France's wartime coin shortage pushed hundreds of regional chambers of commerce into issuing their own fractional notes between 1914 and the early 1920s — a stopgap tolerated by the state but never entirely comfortable with it. The Nice chamber's series was printed locally by Fortuné Robaudy of Cannes, a firm that handled a significant share of southern French emergency paper during this period.
Marius Simon's design credit is worth noting: he was a Niçois artist with municipal commissions to his name, and his involvement here was no accident — the chamber wanted something that read as regional rather than purely administrative.
The watermark security feature places this above the most rudimentary wartime issues, though counterfeiting of small-denomination nécessité notes was a persistent problem nationally.