Catalog
10 Centimes Alger Chamber of Commerce
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce d'Alger |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1917 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Obverse description | A caduceus, winged and entwined with two serpents, is depicted centrally in the field, flanked on either side by a tall palm tree. The entire central device is enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The circular legend CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE D'ALGER runs along the upper periphery, with the date appearing in the lower exergual area between two small dots. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Algiers' Chamber of Commerce began issuing these iron tokens in 1916 because the wartime metal requisitions that fed France's artillery foundries had drained the colony of bronze and copper coinage almost entirely. Iron was the fallback — cheap, available, and deeply unpopular with the public, who found it prone to rust in the humid North African climate. Circulation wear on surviving pieces frequently exposes the base metal beneath any remaining surface, making truly problem-free examples harder to locate than mintage figures alone would suggest.