1 Franc - Chambre de Commerce de Saint-Omer 62

Saint-Omer's chamber of commerce issued this note in 1914 as an emergency response to the acute coin shortage that struck northern France in the opening weeks of the war — small change essentially vanished from circulation as the public hoarded metal and the banking system seized up. Chambers of commerce across the Pas-de-Calais and neighbouring departments stepped into the void, issuing small-denomination papier-monnaie de nécessité under powers hastily sanctioned by the French government.

The Imprimerie Richard in Paris supplied much of this regional emergency paper. The JP#115 reference covers three catalogue numbers for this type, suggesting date or series variants within what is otherwise a uniform issue.