50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Caen et de Honfleur 14

The Chambres de Commerce emergency note issues of the First World War and its aftermath were authorized under a 1914 decree permitting local commercial bodies to fill the coin shortage caused by hoarding and wartime metal demands. Caen and Honfleur operated as a joint issuing authority — an uncommon pairing that reflected the commercial ties between the Norman interior and its Atlantic port. Les papeteries de Normandie, the local printer, was a working paper mill rather than a security printing house, which accounts for the relatively modest production quality common across this series.