5 Centimes - Chambre Syndicale des Commerçants - Perpignan [66] Aluminium

Issued by the Chambre Syndicale des Commerçants de Perpignan during the acute small-change shortage that gripped France throughout and after the First World War. The withdrawal of silver and bronze coinage by hoarding public and wartime metal demands left retailers across the country unable to make change, prompting hundreds of local merchant chambers to issue their own aluminium or cardboard tokens under loose tolerance from central authorities. Perpignan's chamber was among the more prolific in the Pyrénées-Orientales, producing multiple die varieties across the issue period — reflected in the four distinct El Mon catalog references assigned to this type alone.