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2 Francs - Chambre de Commerce de Libourne 33
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Libourne |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE LIBOURNE Délibération du 3 avril 1915 2e Série DEUX FRANCS Remboursable en billets de la Banque de France jusqu'au 15 mai 1920. Le trésorier Le Président |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue on cream paper, the reverse carries a central vignette of the municipal coat of arms of Libourne, flanked by two allegorical female figures acting as supporters, enclosed within an oval guilloche frame. Two solid dark blue circular medallions at left and right each bear the denomination numeral 2 fr. in white, set against a background of laurel sprays and scrollwork. The issuer's name appears in two lines of serif lettering in the lower portion, with the printer's imprint along the bottom edge. |
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| Comments |
Libourne's Chamber of Commerce began issuing small-denomination emergency notes in 1915 because the wartime hoarding of coins — particularly bronze and nickel — had made change nearly impossible to find in everyday commerce. These chambres de commerce issues were explicitly temporary, authorized under French government decree, and were supposed to be withdrawn once coinage returned to normal circulation. That didn't happen quickly. Many of these Gironde-region notes remained in use well past the armistice.
Wetterwald Frères was a Bordeaux printing house that handled several southwestern French emergency issues during this period. The watermark is the primary security measure — modest by any standard, but adequate for notes whose face value made sophisticated counterfeiting economically pointless.