2 Francs - Chambre de Commerce d'Angoulême [16]

The Chambres de Commerce emergency notes of 1914–1918 exist because the French state catastrophically underestimated small-denomination coin demand at the outbreak of war. Hoarding stripped the country of bronze and silver almost immediately, and rather than wait for Paris to act, regional chambers were authorized to print their own fractional paper — a decentralized solution that produced hundreds of distinct local issues across France.

Angoulême's series was printed locally by Keller frères, a regional house rather than one of the grandes imprimeries. The watermark security was modest by any measure, but adequate for notes intended to circulate within a single département.