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50 Centimes Green and Blue
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce d'Oran |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Green print on blue underprint; two putti flank the central coat of arms of Oran at bottom centre, with floral and foliate decorative elements at their sides. The denomination 0.50 appears in a circular cartouche at left, and the Arabic equivalent is enclosed in a circular cartouche at right. The year 1923 is rendered in large numerals as a guilloche underprint across the centre field, with the deliberation date inscribed above. |
| Reverse lettering | CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE D'ORAN Délibération du 11 Avril 1923 0.50 خمسين سنتيم (Translation: Oran Chamber of Commerce. Deliberation of April 11, 1923. Fifty centimes.) |
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| Comments |
The Chambres de Commerce throughout French Algeria filled a persistent small-change vacuum during and after World War I, issuing their own emergency fractional notes when coin shortages made commerce at the retail level nearly impossible. Oran's chamber was among the more prolific issuers, producing multiple denominations through the early 1920s well past the point when metropolitan France had largely resolved its own petite monnaie problem.
By 1923, these local issues were officially tolerated rather than sanctioned — a grey zone that left their legal tender status ambiguous outside the immediate Oran commercial district.