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5 Centimes
| Issuer | Ville de Mascara (Département de Oran) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed bon de nécessité on cream paper, framed within a decorative rectangular border incorporating ornamental corner and mid-side devices. The issuing authority "VILLE DE MASCARA" is set in bold capitals at the top, with the denomination "BON POUR 5c" in large display type at centre, flanked on each side by the numeral "5c"; the lower portion carries the authorization legend "Délibération du Conseil Municipal" in smaller roman type. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Hand signature |
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| Comments |
Mascara's municipal emergency notes of 1915 belong to a wave of small-denomination paper issued across French Algeria when the wartime coin shortage became acute — metropolitan France had requisitioned bronze and nickel for munitions, and small change simply disappeared from circulation. The Ville de Mascara, like dozens of other Algerian communes, printed its own stopgap.
Imp. Muselit was a local press, not a security printer, which is why hand signatures were the only authentication measure available. That informality is precisely what makes these survivals interesting — they were never meant to last.