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25 Centimes
| Issuer | Union des Commerçants d'Orléansville |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1918 |
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| Currency | Franc (1848-1959) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Letterpress-printed on blue-green cardboard, the reverse carries the legend UNION DES COMMERÇANTS arranged in a circular band around a central oval containing the place name Orléansville. A manuscript signature in black ink crosses the centre of the note. Decorative geometric and foliate panels flank the central device on both sides, and crescent moon motifs appear in the upper-left and lower-right corners, reflecting the Algerian context of the issuer. |
| Reverse lettering | UNION DES COMMERÇANTS Orléansville (Translation: Merchants Union, Orléansville) |
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| Comments |
Orléansville — now Chlef — was a small Algerian colonial town, and its commerce association issued this emergency fractional note during the coin shortage that gripped French Algeria from 1916 onward. Metropolitan France was draining small change to support war expenditure, leaving provincial traders with nothing to make change. Local chambers of commerce and merchants' unions across Algeria filled the gap with cardboard nécessité notes like this one.
The Union des Commerçants issues are among the more obscure Algerian emergency pieces — far less documented than the larger city chambers. Surviving examples in reasonable condition are genuinely uncommon.