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50 Centimes
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce d'Oran |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE D'ORAN CINQUANTE CENTIMES Le Président Le Trésorier 0.50 خمسين سنتيم (Translation: Oran Chamber of Commerce. Fifty centimes. The President, the Treasurer. Fifty centimes.) |
| 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.