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1 Franc - Société Générale
| Issuer | Société Générale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1871 |
| Type | Emergency banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Ornate letterpress design printed in blue-grey on cream paper, with an elaborate scrollwork and guilloche border framing the entire note. The central text reads UN FRANC with the date 18 Novembre 1871 beneath, flanked on the left by a circular vignette bearing the SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE inscription and address at 56 rue de Provence, Paris, and on the right by a large numeral 1F roundel. At the top, a banner reading BON DE MONNAIE is supported by decorative cartouches with a small allegorical figure at centre, while the bottom carries a rectangular panel with the reimbursement clause and three manuscript signatures above the titles Le Caissier, Le Contrôleur, Le Directeur. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | CAISSES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ / PARIS / DEPARTEMENTS |
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| Comments |
Société Générale issued emergency small-denomination notes during the Franco-Prussian War and its immediate aftermath, when the Siege of Paris had so thoroughly disrupted normal coin circulation that private banks stepped in to fill the gap. The Banque de France had suspended specie payments in August 1870, and small change essentially vanished from everyday commerce — hoarded, melted, or simply unavailable.
A. Chaix et Cie was primarily a commercial and periodical printer, not a specialist security house. That choice tells you something about wartime Paris: the usual channels were not available.