2 francs - Chambre de Commerce de Bar-le-Duc 55

Bar-le-Duc sits roughly thirty kilometers west of Verdun, and by 1917 the entire regional economy was operating under severe strain from the battle that had been grinding since February 1916. French chambers of commerce were authorized to issue emergency small-denomination notes from 1914 onward precisely because metal coinage had vanished from circulation — hoarded, melted, or consumed by the war effort. This note is a direct product of that breakdown.

Berger-Levrault in Nancy was a logical choice for regional emergency issues; the firm had deep roots in official and administrative printing across Lorraine. The watermark security was modest by any standard, but adequate given the purely local circulation these notes were intended for.