50 centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Cognac [16]

French chambers of commerce were authorized to issue emergency small-denomination paper money in 1914 after the outbreak of war triggered an immediate hoarding crisis — silver and bronze coins vanished from circulation almost overnight, and the Banque de France had neither the mandate nor the capacity to plug the gap at the local level. Cognac's chamber was among dozens that stepped in, contracting regional printers rather than the grandes maisons.

B. Arnaud, based in Villeurbanne on the outskirts of Lyon, handled a significant volume of this wartime municipal paper across multiple departments. The watermark is the primary security measure — modest by any standard, but sufficient for the denominations involved.