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5 Centimes - Communes de l'Arrondissement de Valenciennes
| Issuer | Communes de l'Arrondissement de Valenciennes |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Centimes |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COMMUNES DE L'ARRONDISS. VALENCIENNES 5 CENTIMES SÉRIE 3 SEPTEMBRE 1915 |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted cardboard reverse in a uniform tan-beige tone, bearing only a single stamped serial number applied in black ink at centre. A faint vertical fold line bisects the surface, consistent with the note's small format and wartime emergency production. |
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| Comments |
The arrondissement of Valenciennes fell under German military occupation within weeks of the war's outbreak in August 1914, and by 1915 the pre-war coin supply had effectively vanished — hoarded, melted, or requisitioned. The communes responded by issuing their own small-denomination cardboard tokens collectively, bypassing the individual municipal emissions that most other occupied towns attempted. This pooled authority across the arrondissement was administratively unusual and reflects how thoroughly normal financial infrastructure had collapsed.
Cardboard of this period degrades readily, and survivors with intact edges and legible text are genuinely uncommon.