Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Franc - Chambres de Commerce de Granville et Cherbourg
| Issuer | Chambres de Commerce de Granville et de Cherbourg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1795-1959) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blue letterpress reverse centred on a panoramic vignette of Mont-Saint-Michel seen from the causeway, with figures in the foreground and the abbey rising above the rocky tidal island, all enclosed within a decorative guilloche border with ornamental corner pieces and wheat-ear motifs. Denomination medallions bearing '1 fr.' occupy the upper left and right corners, while the dates '1921' and '1925' are inscribed in rectangular frames at mid-left and mid-right respectively. A text panel at the foot carries the redemption notice directing holders to present the note at the Banque de France branches in Granville or Cherbourg before 6 February 1925. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
After the First World War, the Banque de France struggled to supply small-denomination coinage in sufficient volume, and hundreds of local chambers of commerce across France stepped in to fill the gap with emergency paper issues. The joint emission from Granville and Cherbourg — two Norman ports with distinct commercial identities — was unusual; most chambers issued independently, and the administrative cooperation required to produce shared notes reflects the particular pressure on the Manche département.
Arnaud's Lyon workshop printed the bulk of France's chambre de commerce emergency series, and the watermarked stock was a deliberate hedge against counterfeiting at a time when these small notes circulated as freely as coin.