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1 Franc - Chambres de Commerce de Quimper et de Brest 29
| Issuer | Chambres de Commerce de Quimper et de Brest |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1922 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Blue letterpress note with an ornate guilloche border framing the entire face. At the top centre, two heraldic coats of arms — those of Quimper and Brest — are displayed side by side, flanked by foliate laurel branches surmounted by a crown. The denomination BON DE UN FRANC is printed in large bold type across the centre, with the serial number in letterpress at left and right; the date 1918 appears in a cartouche at the foot of the note, flanked by decorative lozenge-pattern side panels. Two manuscript facsimile signatures of the Presidents of the respective Chambers of Commerce appear above the date line, with their titles set in small italic type. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHAMBRES DE COMMERCE DE QUIMPER & DE BREST BON DE UN FRANC LES PRÉSIDENTS de la Chambre de Commerce de Quimper de la Chambre de Commerce de Brest 1918 Oberthür - Rennes (2006 - 15) |
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| Comments |
When the French government suspended convertibility of banknotes in August 1914 and small-denomination coinage vanished almost immediately into hoarding, chambers of commerce across France were authorized to issue emergency fractional notes to keep retail trade moving. The joint issue by the Quimper and Brest chambers is one of the more unusual arrangements — two geographically separate bodies co-signing a single series, reflecting wartime administrative pragmatism rather than any formal monetary union.
Oberthur in Rennes printed the series, as they did for dozens of French emergency issues of the period, and applied a watermark as the primary security element — modest precaution for a note never intended to circulate beyond Finistère. The JP# reference covers at least seven distinct variants, distinguishable by date and series letter combinations.