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50 Centimes
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Constantine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
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| In circulation to | Yes |
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| Obverse description | Purple letterpress print on cream paper, with the chamber's coat of arms at the upper centre flanked by palm frond vignettes and the deliberation date inscribed on a ribbon above. A panoramic vignette of the city of Constantine with its celebrated Roman aqueduct bridge occupies the lower centre, below which the denomination appears in both French numerals and Arabic script. Serial number and series designation are placed at lower left and lower right respectively, with manuscript signature spaces for the President and Secretary-Treasurer positioned above the central vignette. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 50 CENTIMES ECHANGEABLE CONTRE DES BILLETS DE LA BANQUE DE L'ALGÉRIE PHILIPPEVILLE. — IMP. COSTANTINI |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce emergency notes issued across Algeria in the early 1920s exist because the postwar coin shortage never really resolved itself — small change simply did not return to circulation fast enough, and local commercial bodies stepped in to fill the gap. Constantine's chamber was among the more active issuers, producing a series of small-denomination notes that functioned purely as local fractional currency, not accepted beyond the region.
Imprimerie Costantini operated out of Philippeville, a port city about 80 kilometers northeast of Constantine. A regional job printer handling a regional monetary stopgap — the whole arrangement was deliberately provisional, and most examples that survived did so in collectors' hands rather than worn out in commerce.