Catalog
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!
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Boulogne-sur-Mer |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Repeated text watermark reading CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE BOULOGNE-SUR-MER visible across the entire note surface as a pale underprint. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Boulogne-sur-Mer's Chamber of Commerce began issuing emergency fractional notes in August 1914, within days of general mobilization. The sudden hoarding of coin — a reflex repeated across France that summer — stripped local commerce of the small change needed for daily transactions. Chambers of commerce across northern France stepped in as de facto issuers, a role they had no legal mandate for but that the Banque de France quietly tolerated rather than contest.
The JP#31-13 reference places this within the Pirot-Jeanpierre classification of French necessity issues. Northern Pas-de-Calais chambers produced some of the most heavily used emergency paper of the war, given the proximity to the front and the disruption to normal banking.