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50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce d'Agen [47]
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce d'Agen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917-1922 |
| 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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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE D'AGEN 0,fr50 Le Président, Le Trésorier |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | REMBOURSABLE AU TRÉSOR PUBLIC Ce billet, dont la contre-valeur est déposée au Trésor Public, devra être présenté au remboursement dans un délai de cinq ans, à dater du jour de l'émission. Il sera reçu par les Caisses publiques dans le département de Lot-et-Garonne. L'article 139 du Code pénal punit des travaux forcés à perpétuité ceux qui auront contrefait ou falsifié les billets. |
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| Comments |
French chambers of commerce were authorized to issue emergency small-denomination notes during World War One to combat the near-total disappearance of coins from circulation — hoarding and metal requisition for the war effort stripped the country of small change almost overnight. Agen's chamber, serving the Lot-et-Garonne department, printed its own fractional currency under this framework, which remained in force well past the Armistice as coin shortages persisted into the early 1920s.
The JP# reference places this within the Jérôme Prieur catalog of French necessity coinage, the standard reference for this material. Watermarked paper was a minimal but deliberate anti-counterfeiting measure for notes that, in practice, circulated at very low face value in a provincial market.