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50 centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Bergerac [24]
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Bergerac |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Printed in dark red on cream paper, the obverse is enclosed within a guilloche border with ornamental corner devices and oak-leaf sprigs at the upper corners. The issuer's title CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE BERGERAC runs in a cartouche at the top, while the large bold denomination 50 CENTIMES occupies the centre, flanked by circular medallions bearing the value 0,50 on each side. Manuscript signature lines for LE PRÉSIDENT and LE TRÉSORIER appear above a decorative panel at the base carrying the date 5 OCTOBRE 1914. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in dark red on cream paper, the reverse is framed by a guilloche border with circular medallions bearing 50 CENTIMES in the upper corners. A dense block of French legal text at centre declares the note guaranteed by an equivalent deposit at the Banque de France and redeemable at the Bergerac branch within five years, while a circular vignette at the bottom centre presents the crowned coat of arms of Bergerac flanked by oak and laurel branches, with the printer's imprint IMP. P. DUMONT LIMOGES in the lower-right margin. |
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| Comments |
The Chambre de Commerce de Bergerac was among dozens of French regional chambers that rushed emergency small-denomination notes into circulation in late 1914, when the hoarding of coins — silver and bronze alike — created a near-total breakdown of everyday retail transactions within weeks of mobilization. These notes were legal stopgaps, not banking instruments, and the issuing authority had no pretension otherwise.
Pierre Dumont's Limoges press handled several similar regional commissions during this period. The L. Pigeon design credit is unusual enough to note — most chamber issues of this type went unsigned.