50 centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Bergerac [24]

The Chambre de Commerce de Bergerac was one of hundreds of French local chambers that stepped in to produce small-denomination emergency notes after the wartime hoarding of coins left everyday commerce effectively paralyzed. By 1921, the crisis had technically passed, but fractional coinage remained scarce enough that chambers continued issuing well into the early twenties before the Treasury finally withdrew authorization. Bergerac's series was printed locally by Giraudel & Sorbier, which was unusual — most provincial chambers contracted larger specialist houses in Bordeaux or Paris. The watermarked paper adds a modest security measure rarely seen at this denomination in comparable provincial issues.