Morestel, a small town in the Isère department of southeastern France, issued this piece during the brief legal window created by French law permitting local authorities to produce bons régionaux — emergency-style complementary currency intended to stimulate local commerce ahead of the euro transition. Dozens of French municipalities did the same in the late 1990s, making individual issues difficult to attribute without knowing the specific chamber of commerce or merchants' association that backed redemption.
Morestel, a small town in the Isère department of southeastern France, issued this piece during the brief legal window created by French law permitting local authorities to produce bons régionaux — emergency-style complementary currency intended to stimulate local commerce ahead of the euro transition. Dozens of French municipalities did the same in the late 1990s, making individual issues difficult to attribute without knowing the specific chamber of commerce or merchants' association that backed redemption.