5 Centimes Alger Chamber of Commerce, Essai

Algeria's Chamber of Commerce emergency issues of 1917 emerged from a acute metal shortage that had stripped French colonial circulation of its small-denomination coinage — the war effort had consumed copper and nickel at a rate the Hôtel des Monnaies couldn't offset. Local chambers of commerce across French Algeria were authorized to plug the gap with necessity tokens, and Alger's chamber was among the first to act. The aluminium essai — a trial strike rather than a circulating piece — indicates the chamber was evaluating the metal before committing to a production run.