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50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Bayonne 64
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Bayonne |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Brown on light blue-green guilloche underprint. The issuer's title «CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE BAYONNE» is printed at the top, with the authorization date «DÉLIBÉRATION DU 16 JANVIER 1915» below. The central denomination «50 CENTIMES» in large bold letterpress is flanked on each side by ornate baroque cartouches enclosing the value «50c», each surmounted by a caduceus vignette. Signature lines for the Treasurer and the President appear in the centre, with the series letter and serial number at the lower left and right respectively, and the exchangeability clause in the lower centre. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Brown on light blue-green guilloche underprint, with a double-rule border. The header «DÉPARTEMENT DES BASSES-PYRÉNÉES» arches across the top. Three heraldic vignettes are arranged in the centre: the municipal coat of arms of Bayonne (left) with motto «NUNQUAM POLLUTA», the octagonal Chambre de Commerce de Bayonne seal bearing a sailing vessel and the legend «VIGET ET ODE» (centre), and a second civic shield with motto «URBIS PALLADIUM ET GENTIS» (right), all flanked by oak and laurel sprays. A redemption clause in italic script occupies the lower portion. |
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| Comments |
French chambers of commerce were authorized to issue emergency small-denomination notes in August 1914, when the mobilization for the First World War triggered an immediate hoarding crisis that drained coined silver and bronze from circulation almost overnight. Bayonne's chamber was among the earliest provincial issuers, and its 50 centimes notes filled the gap left by the disappearance of coins worth one, two, five, ten, and twenty-five centimes — a practical catastrophe for daily market transactions in a busy border city.
The JP#21 reference covers at least eight distinct varieties within this type, distinguished by date, serial range, or minor typographic differences — a detail worth attending to, since market values across the variants are uneven.