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50 Centimes - Chambres de Commerce du Lot
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce du Lot |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919-1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Centimes (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in blue on a pink underprint composed of repeated text reading 'CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DU LOT', forming a security background across the central field. The elaborate guilloche border features ornamental corner medallions bearing the denomination '50', with the dates '1921' and '1924' in oval cartouches on the left and right sides respectively. The denomination '50 CENTIMES' is set in large letterpress type at the centre, flanked by two columns of legal text governing the note's validity and redemption conditions, with a circular chamber-of-commerce seal at the centre. |
| Reverse lettering | CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DU LOT DÉLIBÉRATION DU 29 NOVEMBRE 1920 AUTORISATION MINISTÉRIELLE DU 27 DÉCEMBRE 1920 50 CENTIMES Ce Bon émis par la Chambre de Commerce du Lot est valable dans tout le département. Garanti par dépôt au compte du Trésor, il y est échangeable par dix ou multiple de dix contre des billets de la Banque de France Il devra être présenté dans tout le département du Lot au rem- boursement avant le 1er janvier 1924, sous peine de prescription, sauf décision modifiant ce délai. CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE . DU LOT . TOUTE IMITATION OU OPERATION FRAU- DULEUSE SERA PUNIE SELON LA LOI. IMP. P. DUMONT. LIMOGES |
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| Comments |
During and immediately after the First World War, the French central banking system effectively collapsed at the local retail level — the Banque de France simply could not supply enough small-denomination coinage to meet everyday commerce. Chambers of commerce across France were authorized to fill the gap by issuing their own paper fractional currency, the so-called monnaie de nécessité. The Lot department's chamber was one of dozens that took up this responsibility, with Pierre Dumont's Limoges press handling much of the regional output for the southwest.
These small emergency notes were intended as strictly temporary instruments, redeemable once the coinage shortage eased — most were recalled and destroyed by the mid-1920s, which accounts for their relative scarcity today despite having circulated widely in Cahors and surrounding market towns.