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50 Centimes
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce d'Oran |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1848-1959) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Green letterpress print on orange underprint, with a decorative guilloche border framing the entire note. A central vignette shows two putti flanking the coat of arms of Oran at bottom centre, surrounded by foliage and fruit motifs. Black serial number appears on the note, with allegorical figures at right and a man with an ox at left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Green letterpress print on orange underprint, with the year "1921" rendered in large numerals as a guilloche underprint across the centre of the note. Two putti support the coat of arms of Oran at bottom centre, set against a background of repeating text watermark-style lettering. The denomination "0.50" appears in a circular cartouche at left, with the Arabic equivalent in a matching cartouche at right. |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce emergency issues of the early 1920s across French Algeria emerged because the metropolitan authorities could not supply enough small-denomination coinage to the colonies in the disrupted aftermath of the First World War. Oran's chamber was among several Algerian commercial bodies authorized to print their own low-value notes — a stopgap that stretched years longer than anyone anticipated.
These notes circulated hard among a busy port population and survivors are typically found heavily worn.