50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Dijon 21

The Dijon Chamber of Commerce began issuing these small-denomination notes in 1915 as the war drained metallic coinage from everyday commerce across France. The Banque de France had suspended specie payments, and small change simply vanished — hoarded, melted, or redirected to military use. Chambers of commerce across the country stepped in under a 1914 emergency authorization, effectively deputized as local monetary authorities for the duration.

Gérin's Dijon press produced the watermarked stock locally, which was unusual — many provincial chambers outsourced to larger Parisian printers. The JP#53 series ran across at least three catalogue variants within this denomination alone.