Banknote Billet France 1 franc 1915

Remarks:

Morceaux de scotch à l'arrière du billet, 4 épinglages et salissures

This 1 franc banknote was jointly issued by the Chambers of Commerce of Mâcon and Bourg, two local economic institutions located in Saône-et-Loire and Ain respectively. It was issued on 1 September 1915, a period marked by the First World War, during which the shortage of metallic currency had led many French chambers of commerce to issue emergency banknotes to compensate for the lack of currency in circulation.

These local issues, commonly known as emergency banknotes or war currency, were a pragmatic response to the massive hoarding of silver and bronze coins by the civilian population, as well as the requisitioning of precious metals for military purposes. The use of banknotes issued by regional entities thus helped to maintain commercial exchanges at the local level.

The association of the Chambers of Commerce of Mâcon and Bourg for this joint issue reflects an interregional cooperation between two neighbouring economic areas, seeking to pool their efforts in the face of the monetary constraints of the time. These banknotes circulated primarily in the geographical areas corresponding to the jurisdictions of these two chambers.

From the perspective of numismatics and French monetary history, these local First World War banknotes represent direct testimonies of the economic disruptions caused by the conflict. They are today catalogued and studied by collectors and historians specialising in French emergency currency, who recognise them as a valuable documentary source on the local economic organisation of France in wartime.

This banknote, with a face value of one franc, is part of a series of similar issues produced between 1914 and 1922 by numerous chambers of commerce across the entire French territory.