Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Francs - Nevers
| Issuer | Dépôt de Prisonniers de Guerre de Nevers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Light green paper printed in black letterpress with the denomination and issuing authority text. To the left, a circular blue handstamp bears a vignette of the seated Marianne figure surrounded by the legend DÉPÔT DE PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE / NEVERS; a second circular blue handstamp to the right carries the inscription DÉPÔT PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE DE NEVERS with a manuscript signature of the accountant below. A serial number appears in black beneath the denomination line. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Entirely plain light green paper, left unprinted with no text, vignette, or any design elements whatsoever. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Prisoner-of-war camp scrip occupies a peculiar corner of French emergency issues, and Nevers is no exception. The Dépôt de Prisonniers de Guerre de Nevers issued these 5 Franc notes internally during the First World War as a controlled substitute currency — German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners could be paid for labor under the Geneva Conventions, but circulating standard French francs within a camp was administratively untenable. Scrip kept spending contained and traceable.
French POW camp issues from this period were never demonetized through any formal public process, simply abandoned at armistice. Surviving examples tend to show heavy handling — these were working notes, not curiosities saved by collectors at the time.