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1 Franc - Chambres de Commerce de la Marne
| Issuer | Chambres de Commerce de la Marne |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown on plain paper, with the same grapevine and fruit border as the obverse. A detailed cartographic vignette at centre shows the département of La Marne with principal towns named, including Reims, Épernay, Châlons-s-Marne, and Vitry-le-François, bordered by the neighbouring départements of Aisne, Meuse, Aube, and Marne. An oval medallion at the top bears the denomination "1 fr.", and at the bottom an ornate cartouche contains the redemption clause, with the authorisation date "10-10-20" printed at lower right. |
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| Protection description | Bees |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce de la Marne issued these small-format emergency notes because the First World War had devastated coin circulation across the Marne département — a region that had seen some of the war's most destructive fighting, including the Battles of the Marne. Local chambers of commerce across France filled the resulting small-denomination void between roughly 1914 and the early 1920s, operating under emergency authorization rather than as formal banking institutions.
Debar & Cie, the Reims printer on record, was itself operating in a city that had been under near-constant bombardment and partial occupation. By 1920 the firm was rebuilding alongside the rest of Reims.