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2 francs - Chambre de Commerce de Boulogne-sur-Mer [62]
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Boulogne-sur-Mer |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1795-1959) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in blue on light green paper, the note is laid out in a letterpress typographic style with a repetitive guilloche underprint reading 'CHAMBREDECOMMERCEDEBOULOGNE-SUR-MER' across the entire field. Two allegorical figures flank the central text area: at left, a male figure representing Mercury or Commerce with a ship and pine tree at his feet; at right, a female figure with scales of justice and a locomotive at her base. A central oval vignette at the top contains a caduceus-like emblem, flanked by the issuer's name 'CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE BOULOGNE-SUR-MER' and the large denomination legend 'DEUX FRANCS', with the denomination numeral '2' in circular cartouches at each corner. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Without watermark |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce emergency notes of the First World War and its immediate aftermath filled a vacuum created by the near-total disappearance of small coin from French circulation — hoarding, metal requisitions, and the sheer volume of transactions had stripped the country of fractional currency by 1915. Boulogne-sur-Mer's chamber was among hundreds that issued locally printed substitutes under a framework loosely authorized by the French state, each redeemable only within the issuing district.
Printed by the Imprimeries Réunies in Boulogne itself, this 1920 note arrives relatively late in that cycle — most chambers had wound down issuance by 1920 as coin slowly returned to circulation. The watermark is the sole security concession on a note whose authority rested almost entirely on local commercial trust.