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

Issued by the Perpignan merchants' syndicate during the acute small-change shortage that gripped France throughout the First World War and its aftermath, when the hoarding of metal coinage and the suspension of fractional mintage left retailers unable to make change. Chambers of commerce and trade syndicates across southern France filled the gap with privately issued tokens carrying no state authority but near-universal local acceptance out of sheer necessity.

The extended validity window into 1924 reflects how slowly the French treasury restored adequate fractional coinage supply after the Armistice.