Banknote Billet France 1 franc 1915

Remarks:

Plis, 2 épinglages et salissures

This 1 franc note was issued by the Chambre de Commerce de Perpignan (Perpignan Chamber of Commerce), an institution which, like many French chambers of commerce, was led to produce its own emergency currency during the First World War. This period of conflict generated a significant shortage of metallic coinage, as metals were requisitioned for military purposes, forcing various local authorities and organisations to issue notes or vouchers to compensate for the lack of currency in circulation.

This note bears the date of 24 June 1915 and belongs to series K. It falls within the category of local emergency issues, characteristic of the 1914-1918 period in France. These fiduciary documents, although purely regional and temporary in use, constituted a legally recognised means of payment within their area of issue.

From a numismatic point of view, this type of chamber of commerce note holds a certain historical interest, bearing witness to the local economic adaptations imposed by the wartime context. The Chambre de Commerce de Perpignan, the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department, thus ensured the continuity of commercial exchanges in its region through the issuance of these notes.

The face value of 1 franc corresponded to a common and useful denomination in the everyday transactions of the time. These emergency notes were generally produced on paper and featured identifying details such as the name of the issuing body, the face value, the date of issue and the series number, all elements that allow today's collectors and historians to identify and classify them precisely within collections of French emergency currency from the First World War.