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50 Centimes - Chambres de commerce d'Alençon et de Flers [61]
| Issuer | Chambres de Commerce d'Alençon et de Flers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | 31 December 1917 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CHAMBRES DE COMMERCE D'ALENÇON ET DE FLERS, ORNE 50 Centimes ÉCHANGEABLE contre des billets de la BANQUE de FRANCE |
| Reverse description | Green letterpress reverse enclosed within a narrow ornamental floral typographic border. The issuer heading 'CHAMBRES DE COMMERCE D'ALENÇON ET DE FLERS, ORNE' runs across the top, followed by the full redemption clause in French specifying exchange at the Banque de France branches in Alençon or Flers and a prescription deadline of 31 December 1917. The denomination '0 fr. 50 c.' appears at the foot, flanked by decorative typographic ornaments. |
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| Comments |
Alençon and Flers were paired under a joint Chamber of Commerce issue because neither town's commercial infrastructure was substantial enough to support an independent emergency currency. The 1915 date places this squarely in the early wartime small-change crisis — the hoarding of coins that followed the outbreak of war in 1914 forced hundreds of French provincial chambers to produce their own fractional notes, many of them crude, short-lived, and poorly documented.
The multiple JP reference numbers reflect the several distinct date and signatory variants across the series, not separate designs. Watermarked paper was a deliberate choice to deter local counterfeiting, though the security it provided was modest at best.