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5 Centimes
| Issuer | Union des Commerçants d'Orleansville |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Centimes (0.05) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain khaki card stock bearing a circular violet handstamp reading UNION DES COMMERÇANTS in the outer legend with additional text at centre, applied off-centre toward the left. A hand-written or rubber-stamped cursive signature crosses diagonally over the upper portion of the stamp, serving as the authorising validation mark. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Circular violet handstamp of the Union des Commerçants applied to the reverse; a manuscript or facsimile signature overlapping the handstamp serves as an additional validation. |
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| Comments |
Orleansville — now Chlef — was a small colonial town in Algeria's Cheliff valley, and by 1916 the wartime drain on small coinage had become acute enough that local merchants banded together to issue their own emergency scrip. The Union des Commerçants, a merchants' cooperative rather than any banking authority, produced these cardboard tokens to fill the gap left by hoarded bronze. Similar chambers of commerce issues were proliferating across French Algeria and metropolitan France simultaneously, authorized under wartime emergency provisions.
The handstamp and signature are the only authentication measures — thin guarantees, but typical of the urgency under which these were produced.