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5 centimes - Dépôt d'Alençon
| Issuer | Ministère de l'Intérieur - Dépôt d'Alençon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1919 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Plain paper voucher with typeset letterpress text in black ink. The denomination '5 centimes' is printed in large type at centre, flanked above by 'MINISTÈRE DE L'INTÉRIEUR' and below by 'DÉPÔT D'ALENÇON', with a circular handstamp applied over the text. Ornamental corner devices frame the text block. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted paper reverse, aged to a uniform tawny tone with no design elements. Ghost impressions of the obverse text are faintly visible through the thin stock. |
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| Comments |
The Dépôt d'Alençon was one of dozens of French internment and detention facilities that issued their own small-denomination paper during the First World War, when the disappearance of metal coinage from circulation created an acute shortage of everyday change. The Ministère de l'Intérieur — rather than the Banque de France or a municipal authority — was the issuing authority because these notes were produced for use within a controlled population, not the general public.
Five-centime denominations at this level were almost purely functional tokens, rarely leaving the facility that issued them.