10 Centimes Bougie Chamber of Commerce

Bougie's Chamber of Commerce issued these aluminium emergency tokens in 1915 because the First World War had effectively strangled the supply of small French colonial coinage to Algeria — metal was needed elsewhere, and the metropole had neither the capacity nor the inclination to prioritize fractional coin production for North African markets. Local chambers of commerce across Algeria stepped in to fill the void, each issuing their own necessity currency. The Leclercq catalogue distinguishes two varieties for this type, Lec#238 and Lec#239, differentiated by minor die characteristics rather than any change in issuing authority or stated value.