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1 Franc - Chambres de Commerce du Havre
| Issuer | Ville du Havre et Chambre de Commerce du Havre |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The face is framed by a decorative border of geometric guilloche work, within which two circular medallions are supported by flanking columns to form the central vignette. Letterpress text above and below the vignette identifies the issuing authority and denomination, with signature lines reserved for the President of the Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor of the City of Le Havre. The overall execution is characteristic of French municipal emergency issues of the First World War period, with restrained typographic composition throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
When the French banking system effectively seized up in August 1914, towns and chambers of commerce across the country scrambled to plug the coin vacuum left by wartime hoarding and the suspension of specie payments. Le Havre, as a major Atlantic port, felt this immediately — commerce couldn't wait for Paris to sort itself out. These locally-issued emergency fractional notes were a practical municipal fix, not a monetary experiment.
The JP#68 series spans several discrete signature and date variants across 1914–15, which accounts for the range of Pick references. Collectors working this series need to distinguish them carefully; the differences are minor but the relative scarcities are not uniform across variants.