25 Centimes

Orleansville — now Chlef — was a modest colonial town in western Algeria, and its wartime commerce note is exactly what it looks like: a local merchants' association plugging a coin gap that the French monetary system failed to fill. By 1916, the mobilization of metal for the war effort had stripped small-denomination coinage from everyday circulation across French Algeria, forcing chambers of commerce and informal trade groups alike to issue their own fractional paper.

The handstamp and manuscript signature were the only authentication the Union could manage. Forgery risk was real but apparently tolerated — the notes circulated on reputation alone within a tight geographic area.