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50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Lorient [56]
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Lorient |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central oval vignette enclosed within a decorative frame composed of geometrical and vegetal guilloche motifs, with a heraldic shield at each corner. Along the upper border, two additional heraldic shields flank a crowned ermine spot, a traditional symbol of Brittany. The denomination and issuing authority inscriptions are arranged around the central oval, with the printer's imprint at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Like hundreds of French chambers of commerce during the First World War, Lorient's issued its own fractional emergency currency after the hoarding crisis of August 1914 drained small-denomination coins from everyday trade almost overnight. The notes were authorised under a national framework that allowed commercial bodies to fill the gap the Banque de France couldn't — or wouldn't — plug at the centime level.
Oberthur in Rennes was the natural choice: the firm printed emergency nécessité issues for chambers across Brittany and beyond, and the volume across the JP#75 series ran to numerous distinct date variants across a six-year span.