50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce d'Aurillac [15]

The Chambres de Commerce emergency issues of 1920–1923 filled a genuine void — the postwar coin shortage left small transactions stranded, and the French state was slow to respond at scale. Aurillac's chamber was among dozens across France that stepped in with locally printed fractional notes, each one a purely regional instrument, legally restricted to circulation within its issuing department. Félix Tourdes designed the series, and the printing house Delostal & Germa handled production locally — an unusual case of the design and manufacture staying entirely within the same provincial town.