Banknote Billet France 1 franc 1916

Remarks:

Délibération: 27-06-1916

Spécimen: 3 perforations

Série: 1?8

This 1 franc banknote was issued in 1916 by the Chamber of Commerce of Chalon-sur-Saône, Autun and Louhans. It is a Specimen example, making it a particularly remarkable document in the field of French numismatics.

During the First World War, the shortage of metallic currency led to an unprecedented monetary crisis in France. Faced with this situation, many chambers of commerce were authorised to issue emergency banknotes to compensate for the lack of currency in circulation. It was in this context that the Chamber of Commerce grouping the towns of Chalon-sur-Saône, Autun and Louhans, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy, proceeded to issue this banknote.

The Specimen designation indicates that this is a copy issued for presentation or reference purposes, and not intended to circulate in everyday commerce. These specimen copies were generally produced in very limited quantities, which gives them particular interest today for collectors and historians of French paper currency.

This banknote belongs to the category of emergency currency or war currency, issued on a provisional basis by local or regional institutions. These issues bear witness to the economic and monetary adaptations that France had to implement in order to maintain commercial exchanges during this period of major conflict. Chamber of commerce banknotes from this era now constitute a valuable documentary source on the economic and monetary history of France during the First World War.