5 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Montluçon - Gannat 03

Emergency small-change notes from French Chambers of Commerce proliferated after 1914 when metal coinage disappeared from circulation almost overnight — hoarded by the public and swallowed by wartime industry. The Chambre de Commerce de Montluçon-Gannat was among dozens of regional bodies authorized to fill that gap with locally printed paper fractionals. Herbin & Bouché, a Montluçon printer, produced this note without traveling far: issuer and printer shared the same town.

At 52 × 30 mm, this is among the smallest paper money France produced in any period. The control stamp was applied after printing as a basic anti-counterfeiting measure — practical rather than sophisticated, given the denomination involved.