1 Franc Colonie de Précigné

Précigné, a small commune in the Sarthe department, operated an agricultural penal colony that issued its own internal scrip during the First World War when metal coinage vanished from everyday French circulation. These notes functioned as a closed monetary system — valid only within the colony's grounds — and were never intended to interface with the broader franc economy. The red paper distinguishes the 1 franc denomination from others in the series, a simple but effective internal accounting device.