2 francs - Chambre de Commerce de Montluçon-Gannat [03]

The Chambre de Commerce de Montluçon-Gannat began issuing emergency paper fractional currency in 1914 in direct response to the coin hoarding that swept France within weeks of mobilization. Small change vanished from circulation almost overnight, and provincial chambers of commerce across the country were authorized to fill the gap with locally printed bons de caisse. Herbin & Bouché, a Montluçon printer, produced this series locally — an unusual detail, since many comparable chambers contracted Paris houses for the work.

The stamp security feature was characteristic of these early wartime issues, added to deter copying rather than out of any sophisticated anti-counterfeiting architecture.