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50 Centimes - Ville de Metz 57
| Issuer | Ville de Metz (Municipality of Metz) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Currency | Franc (1795-1959) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE VILLE DE METZ 50 CENTIMES Le Maire Le Receveur Municipal N° 173,050 BERGER-LEVRAULT_ NANCY, PARIS, STRASBOURG |
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| Reverse lettering | Tous les bons de la Ville de Metz sont échangeables contre des billets de la Banque de France jusqu'au 31 Décembre 1920. Le remboursement ultérieur n'en pourra plus être exigé. 27 Décembre 1918. |
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| Comments |
Metz was under German administration from 1871 until the Armistice, annexed following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. This note was issued in 1918 — the year the city reverted to France — which places it precisely at the seam between two sovereignties. Municipal emergency notes of this type proliferated across northeastern France during the war years to compensate for the near-total disappearance of small coinage from circulation.
Berger-Levrault, the Nancy-based printer responsible for this issue, was one of the most technically capable regional printing houses in France, with a long record of government and military contract work. The watermarked paper distinguishes it from the more rudimentary cardboard substitutes common to smaller communes.