Catalog
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| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Libourne |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1795-1959) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Dark brown on yellow-ochre underprint. The issuer's title "CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE LIBOURNE" arches across the top in bold letterpress, flanked at each upper corner by small monogram cartouches within ornate foliate borders. A central caduceus vignette set within an elaborate foliate and scroll surround dominates the upper centre, above a large dark ribbon panel bearing the denomination "DEUX FRANCS" in white letters. The authorising text, date "20 Juin 1918", and signature lines for Le Trésorier and Le Président appear in the lower portion, with a serial number in a shaped cartouche at foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Dark brown on pale guilloche underprint. Two large circular value medallions bearing "2fr." in white on dark ground are positioned at upper left and upper right. A central oval vignette presents the arms of Libourne flanked by two allegorical female figures within a beaded border, surmounted by laurel sprays. Below, a scroll ribbon carries the series inscription "CINQUIÈME SÉRIE", with the issuer's name in two lines across the lower centre. The printer's imprint appears in small text at the foot. |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce emergency notes issued across France during and after the First World War filled a vacuum created by the near-total disappearance of small coinage from circulation — hoarding and metal requisitioning had stripped the country of anything useful for everyday transactions. Libourne's chamber, serving the Gironde wine trade hub on the Dordogne, contracted Wetterwald Frères in Bordeaux for several variants across its series, with watermarked stock used to distinguish later printings from the earlier plain-paper issues.
JP#72.27 specifically denotes the brown ("marron") watermarked variant, one of multiple color and paper combinations the chamber cycled through — a detail that trips up collectors who treat the series as uniform.