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5 Francs Spa
| Issuer | City of Spa (Province of Liège) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1916 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 100 × 81 mm |
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| Obverse description | At upper left, a vignette of a pigeon in flight; at upper right, a horse-racing scene; at centre-bottom, the crowned coat of arms of the City of Spa flanked by two lions, rendered in varying colours across issues. A communal stamp underprint in green covers the background, with all legends and the serial number printed in black letterpress. The serial number appears in two parts across the upper portion of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Notes issued on 12 August 1914 under series 'A' bear no printed serial number but carry the communal stamp; these early examples were signed by the Burgomaster alone and subsequently cancelled by an overprint stamp applied to both faces of the note. |
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| Comments |
Spa was one of hundreds of Belgian municipalities forced into emergency note issuance after German occupation severed normal banking operations in August 1914. The national clearing system collapsed almost immediately, and local authorities — communes, towns, provincial governments — stepped in with their own printed obligations to keep daily commerce moving. Most were produced under considerable constraint, with whatever printer happened to be accessible.
The Province of Liège sat at the very center of the German advance. Spa itself later became the location of German Imperial General Headquarters from 1917, a detail that lends a particular edge to any note bearing the town's name from the occupation years.