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50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Béthune 62
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Béthune |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| 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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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in brown on cream paper with a decorative guilloche border framing the entire note. The denomination "0.50" appears in large numerals at upper left and upper right, with the issuing authority "CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE BÉTHUNE" centered at top. The central inscription "CINQUANTE CENTIMES" is printed in large red overprint letters. Two oval text panels flank the center: the left panel states the note is accepted by all public treasury offices of the Arrondissement de Béthune, and the right panel notes exchangeability for Banque de France billets. Below the central inscription appear the manuscript signatures of the Trésorier and the Président, with the series number, date, and serial number at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown on plain cream paper with a simple rectangular guilloche border. At the top center is a heraldic vignette showing a crowned coat of arms flanked by two standing figures. The main text body, printed in black letterpress, sets out the redemption conditions: the bon must be presented for reimbursement within five years of the signing of peace, and may at any time be exchanged against Banque de France billets in minimum lots of Cinquante francs or completed to that sum with other bank notes or coin. The red "0.50" guilloche underprint is visible behind the text. |
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| Comments |
Béthune sits in the Pas-de-Calais, barely fifteen kilometers from the front lines as they stabilized in late 1914. The Chambre de Commerce issued these small-denomination notes in 1915 because the French wartime coin shortage had made transactional commerce nearly impossible — silver and copper were being hoarded or melted, and the Banque de France had no mechanism to supply emergency fractional currency to local bodies quickly enough. Chambers of commerce across northern France filled that gap by issuing their own necessity money, a practice the government formally authorized in August 1914.
The JP#26 reference covers five distinct varieties within this emission, differentiated by serial number blocks and minor typographic revisions — not always easy to distinguish without direct comparison.