5 Centimes Oran Chamber of Commerce

When the French colonial administration struggled to maintain adequate small-change supply in Algeria after World War I, local chambers of commerce stepped in as quasi-monetary authorities. Oran's chamber issued aluminium necessity tokens through the early 1920s to plug the gap — a practice common across French Algeria but reflecting genuine shortages rather than institutional ambition.

Lec#314a designates a specific variant within Lecompte's classification of French colonial emergency issues. Collectors should note that Oran chamber pieces circulated alongside, and were occasionally confused with, similar issues from the Algiers and Bône chambers.