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5 Centimes
| Issuer | Commune of Berrouaghia (Department of Alger) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1918 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Black letterpress print on plain paper, with a stippled rectangular underprint framed by an ornamental border incorporating circular corner devices and interlaced rule work. A municipal coat of arms is centrally placed within the underprint field, surrounded by foliate decorative elements. Redemption text appears in small type along the upper and lower margins. |
| Reverse lettering | ECHANGEABLE CONTRE DES BILLETS DE LA CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE D'ALGER ET LA BANQUE D'ALGER (Translation: Exchangeable for banknotes from the Algiers Chamber of Commerce and the Bank of Algiers.) |
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| Comments |
Berrouaghia is a small inland town in the Titteri region, roughly 100 km south of Algiers. During the First World War, the acute shortage of small metallic coinage across France and its territories prompted hundreds of communes, chambers of commerce, and municipalities to issue their own emergency paper substitutes — known as monnaies de nécessité or bons de nécessité. Berrouaghia's 5 centimes bon sits among the most obscure of these, issued at the commune level rather than by a departmental chamber of commerce, which makes it considerably rarer in the record than the better-documented Algiers or Oran chamber issues.
Commune-level Algerian necessity notes from this period are poorly catalogued, and survival rates are low — locally circulated small denominations were heavily used and rarely saved.