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50 Centimes Brown
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce d'Alger |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Centimes (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress print on cream paper within an oval guilloche border. At left, the crowned coat of arms of Algiers; at right, the circular seal of the Chambre de Commerce d'Alger bearing a caduceus. The denomination '50 CENTIMES' is set centrally in large type, accompanied by the Arabic legend 'عشرة سوردى', with the issuing authority and deliberation date inscribed along the upper arc of the oval frame. Two manuscript signatures appear below the roles 'Le Président' and 'Le Secrétaire Trésorier', with series and serial number in black at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 50 CENTIMES 50 عشرة سوردى ÉCHANGEABLE CONTRE DES BILLETS DE LA BANQUE DE L'ALGÉRIE |
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| Comments |
Alger's Chamber of Commerce began issuing small-denomination emergency notes in 1915 because the war had sucked hard coin out of circulation across French Algeria almost immediately — soldiers, supply chains, and metal requisitions conspired to produce an acute shortage of fractional currency that the colonial banking system was not equipped to address quickly. Chambers of commerce across France and its territories filled that gap as a matter of administrative necessity, not banking ambition.
Adolphe Jourdan's press had been the dominant commercial printer in Algiers for decades before this note was produced, which made them the obvious local choice. The firm closed in 1916, the year after this issue.