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2 Francs - Chambre de Commerce du Havre 76
| Issuer | Ville du Havre et Chambre de Commerce du Havre |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress note enclosed by an ornate guilloche border, with the municipal coat of arms of Le Havre — an anchor-and-lion heraldic vignette carrying the motto NUTRISCO ET EXTINGUO — centred at the top, flanked by a caduceus vignette to the left and a crossed anchor and trident to the right. The denomination DEUX FRANCS is set in bold capitals within a dark rectangular panel at centre, with the year 1920 in a small cartouche below. Two manuscript signatures appear at the foot, attributed respectively to the Président de la Chambre de Commerce and the Maire de la Ville du Havre. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Émission de remplacement du 15 janvier 1920 remboursable au plus tard le 15 janvier 1923. BERGER-LEVRAULT NANCY-PARIS-STRASBOURG |
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| Comments |
Le Havre's Chamber of Commerce began issuing its own emergency paper money — known as monnaie de nécessité — during the First World War, when the hoarding of coin became acute across France. This 2 Franc piece dates to 1920, when many French chambers were still circulating their wartime issues well into the postwar period, the national coinage system having failed to recover quickly enough to retire them.
Berger-Levrault, the Nancy printer, handled a significant volume of French provincial emergency currency during this period. The watermark is the principal security feature — modest by any measure, but consistent with the cost constraints chambers faced when issuing what was, legally speaking, purely local scrip.