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25 Centimes
| Issuer | Commune of Cherchell (Department of Alger) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1848-1959) |
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| Obverse description | Green letterpress print on buff paper. A central circular vignette contains a classical female bust in right profile, wearing a laurel wreath and styled after antique Roman portraiture, consistent with the town's ancient identity as Caesarea. The legend CHERCHELL arches across the top of the vignette border, flanked by crescent motifs at each upper corner, with ANTIQUE CAESAREA curving along the lower arc. The denomination BON POUR : 0,25 is inscribed across the lower margin in bold display lettering. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHERCHELL ANTIQUE CAESAREA BON POUR : 0,25 |
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| Comments |
Wartime small-change shortages in French Algeria produced a wave of locally issued emergency notes, and Cherchell's 1916 25 centimes is a product of exactly that pressure. Metal coinage had effectively disappeared from circulation by mid-war, hoarded or melted, forcing municipalities across the départements to fill the gap themselves. Cherchell — ancient Caesarea, a small coastal town west of Algiers — had neither the resources nor the infrastructure of a major city, and the result is appropriately modest.
Jean Glénat's design credit is unusual for a municipal emergency issue of this scale. Most comparable notes from Algerian communes were produced anonymously or through local print shops without named designers.