5 Centimes - Ligue des Commerçants Rouennais - Rouen [76]

The Ligue des Commerçants Rouennais was one of dozens of French merchant associations that issued emergency aluminum tokens following World War I, when the state simply could not produce enough small-denomination coinage to meet everyday retail demand. The postwar coin shortage was acute enough that local chambers of commerce, tramway companies, and trade leagues across Normandy and elsewhere took matters into their own hands throughout 1920 and 1921.

The Elvira Morin reference catalog (El Mon.) remains the primary authority for cataloging these French necessity issues by merchant associations.