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50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de la Marne [51]
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de la Marne |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Purple letterpress note with the denomination '50c' in the upper left and right corners, flanked by grape-cluster vignettes in the corners. The centre carries the large serif legend 'Cinquante Centimes' above a finely engraved vignette of the Gothic facade of Reims Cathedral. The issuing authority 'Chambres de Commerce de la Marne' is inscribed in a cartouche at the top, with the presidents' facsimile signatures below the central legend and the printer's imprint 'DEBAR IMP. REIMS' at the lower margin. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Chambre de Commerce de la Marne was among dozens of French regional chambers forced into emergency note issuance during and after the First World War, when small-denomination coinage virtually disappeared from circulation. By 1922 the acute shortage had eased nationally, but provincial chambers were often slow to wind down their programs — redemption logistics were administratively complex and politically unpopular with merchants who had grown accustomed to the scrip.
Debar & Cie operated out of Reims, a city that had been shelled for nearly four consecutive years and lay largely in ruins by the Armistice. That a local printer was producing commercial scrip there by 1922 is itself a small marker of how rapidly parts of the reconstruction moved.