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25 Centimes Chambre de Commerce
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce des Établissements Français de l'Océanie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in brown-orange on white paper, the obverse presents a central text panel bearing the issuing authority and denomination in bold letterpress, flanked by two allegorical female figures seated on arches — one at left holding a book, one at right holding a scroll — rendered in a classical vignette style. The denomination 0.25 appears in circular cartouches at lower left and lower right, with series and serial number repeated in two locations for additional identification. Two manuscript signature lines for Le Secrétaire and Le Président appear at centre below the main text block. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Émission faite sous la responsabilité de la Chambre de Commerce des Établissements français de L'Océanie et garantie par un dépôt correspondant en billets de la Banque de L'Indo-Chine dans les coffres de cet Établissement. (La Loi punit les contrefacteurs) Vingt Cinq Centimes Halpin Lithograph Company San Francisco (Translation: Issue made under the responsibility of the Chamber of Commerce of the French Establishments in Oceania and guaranteed by a corresponding deposit in notes of the Bank of Indo-China in the vaults of this establishment. (The law punishes counterfeiters) Twenty-Five Centimes) |
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| Comments |
French Oceania had no local printing capacity in the mid-1910s, and wartime disruption to shipping from France made metropolitan supply impossible. The Chambre de Commerce turned to Halpin in San Francisco — a practical choice given proximity, but an unusual one that resulted in a French colonial emergency note produced entirely in the United States.
The 1916 print date against a 1919 issue year suggests the notes sat in reserve for several years before release, likely due to ongoing uncertainty about whether they would be needed at all.