Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
10 francs - Chambre de Commerce de Cambrai [59]
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Cambrai |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Francs |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Green letterpress note on cream paper with an ornate Art Nouveau border incorporating caduceus symbols flanked by laurel sprays at left and right, and small medallion vignettes of a helmeted Marianne head at lower corners. The issuer's title runs across the top within a foliate ribbon cartouche, with the large denomination legend DIX FRANCS at centre and the issue date below; denomination numerals 10 appear in diamond cartouches on each side. Three manuscript signature lines for Le Trésorier, Le Président, and Le Caissier appear beneath the date, with a boxed redemption clause at lower centre and the printer's imprint at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse repeats the same green letterpress design as the obverse, with the identical ornate Art Nouveau border, caduceus and laurel corner ornaments, Marianne medallion vignettes, and central denomination layout. A lengthy legal text in smaller type occupies the centre, detailing the conditions of issue and validity requirements, flanked by the denomination numeral 10 in side cartouches, with the redemption clause box at lower centre and printer's imprint at lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Cambrai Chamber of Commerce began issuing emergency paper in 1914 as the German advance through northern France severed normal banking operations. Cambrai itself fell under German occupation in late August 1914 and would remain so until October 1918 — one of the longer-held French industrial towns of the war. Whether notes issued before the fall saw any meaningful circulation, or were largely superseded by German-administered currency almost immediately after printing, remains a point of genuine ambiguity in the series.
Fernand Deligne et Cie was a local Cambrai printer, which makes the survival of any impressions from this run quietly remarkable given what the town endured over four years of occupation and the near-total destruction it suffered during the German withdrawal in 1918.