Banknote Billet France 1 franc 1921

Remarks:

1 épinglage et plis de comptage

This 50 centimes note was issued in 1920 by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, in the context of the shortage of divisional currency that affected France during and after the First World War. Faced with the insufficiency of coins in circulation, many French chambers of commerce were authorised to issue their own emergency notes to make up for this shortage, and Bordeaux was one of them.

This type of note belongs to the category of local emergency issues, also known as regional paper currencies, which played an important economic role in everyday local trade. The Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce thus produced several denominations and series in order to meet the needs of the Gironde population.

The note presented here belongs to series 66, which allows it to be identified and distinguished within the overall production of this issue. Series numbering is an essential element for collectors, as it allows the relative rarity of certain series to be established in comparison to others.

These chamber of commerce notes are today highly sought-after collectibles among enthusiasts of notaphily, the branch of numismatics dedicated to banknotes and paper money. They bear witness to a particular economic period in French history, during which local authorities had to supplement the national monetary shortage.

The notes issued by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce are referenced in specialist French catalogues, particularly those dedicated to emergency issues, which facilitates their identification and precise grading according to their condition.