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1 Frange
| Issuer | Finance Director, Korça/Coriza/Korytza |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in dark red-brown on plain paper within a border of repetitive guilloche wave pattern. The central field bears the large denomination inscription "NJE FRANGE" in bold letterpress, above which a serial number appears in red and a date is handstamped at the top. The legends "Dri. FINANCES" and "QEVERITARI DELEGAT" flank two manuscript signatures, with denomination numerals "1 fr" repeated at each corner. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NJE FRANGE Dri. FINANCES QEVERITARI DELEGAT 1 fr |
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| Comments |
Korça is one of the stranger episodes in Albanian monetary history. In 1916, French forces established the Autonomous Republic of Korça as a buffer administration in southeastern Albania, and it was under this arrangement that the Finance Director issued local currency — including this 1 Frange note — to service the needs of a population that was neither under Ottoman, Albanian, nor Italian control in any straightforward sense. The republic lasted until 1920, making this entire note series one of the shortest-lived local issues in the Balkans.
The issuing authority listed as "Finance Director" rather than a named bank is itself telling — this was improvised wartime administration, not a functioning central bank.