Épernay sits at the heart of the Champagne region, and by 1922 the town's retail merchants' union was issuing its own brass tokens to compensate for the chronic small-change shortage that had plagued French commerce since the First World War. The wartime melting of bronze coinage and the suspension of normal mint production left a gap that local chambers of commerce and trade associations across France filled with their own nécessité pieces — some towns issuing multiple denominations through competing organizations simultaneously.
The Union des Commerçants Détaillants functioned as a merchant cooperative, and acceptance of these tokens was effectively limited to member shops.
Épernay sits at the heart of the Champagne region, and by 1922 the town's retail merchants' union was issuing its own brass tokens to compensate for the chronic small-change shortage that had plagued French commerce since the First World War. The wartime melting of bronze coinage and the suspension of normal mint production left a gap that local chambers of commerce and trade associations across France filled with their own nécessité pieces — some towns issuing multiple denominations through competing organizations simultaneously.
The Union des Commerçants Détaillants functioned as a merchant cooperative, and acceptance of these tokens was effectively limited to member shops.