1 Franc - Chambre de Commerce du Gers [32]

The Chambre de Commerce du Gers was one of scores of French regional chambers authorized to issue emergency small-denomination notes during and after the First World War, filling the void left by hoarded coinage. Bouquet & Cie, the Auch-based printer responsible for this series, was a local firm — an unusual arrangement at a time when most chambers contracted Paris houses. That regional production kept costs down but introduced inconsistencies across the date variants, which is why the JP reference spans five separate pickup numbers for what is nominally the same note.

The watermark is the sole security concession. Forgery of low-denomination chambre notes was common enough that some chambers eventually withdrew their issues early.