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5 Francs - Chambre de Commerce de Cambrai 59
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Cambrai |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1795-1959) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Red letterpress note with an ornate rectangular border incorporating caduceus vignettes at upper left and right, and small medallion portraits of a helmeted female head at lower left and right, each surrounded by laurel branches. The issuer's title appears in a ribbon banner at top, with the denomination CINQ FRANCS in large bold type at centre, flanked by numeral 5 in decorative cartouches on each side. A bordered text panel at lower centre gives the redemption clause, with three manuscript signature lines above it bearing the titles Le Trésorier, Le Président, and Le Caissier, and the printer's imprint at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermark visible when held to light, incorporated into the paper stock. |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce emergency issues of 1914 belong to a chaotic first wave of wartime necessity currency — the Banque de France could not supply small change fast enough after mobilization drained coin from circulation almost overnight. Cambrai's chamber moved quickly, but the city fell under German occupation in late August 1914 and remained occupied until October 1918, which raises real questions about how many of these notes actually circulated under French rather than German administration.
Printed locally by Deligne, the notes never left town for a press run — an unusual degree of provincial self-sufficiency for a wartime emergency issue.