Banknote Billet France 1 francs 1921

Remarks:

Traces de charnières

Délibération: 27-09-1921 à Cherbourg et 07-10-1921 à Granville

Spécimen: 2 perforations

This banknote with a face value of 1 franc was jointly issued by the Chambers of Commerce of Granville and Cherbourg in 1921. It is a Specimen example, making it a particularly remarkable document in the field of French paper numismatics.

This note is part of the context of emergency issues that marked France during and after the First World War. Faced with a shortage of divisional currency, many French chambers of commerce were authorised to issue their own local banknotes in order to compensate for the lack of means of payment in circulation. The association of the Chambers of Commerce of Granville and Cherbourg, two important port towns in the English Channel area of Normandy, bears witness to regional cooperation in managing this monetary crisis.

The Specimen mention indicates that this is not a note intended for general circulation, but a reference copy produced for control, archival or presentation purposes. These specimens are generally characterised by a specific overprint or perforation bearing this mention, intended to distinguish them from notes issued for commercial use. They are particularly sought-after collector's items due to their rarity and documentary status.

This type of regional emergency banknote represents a significant historical and economic testimony to the local monetary organisation in France at the beginning of the 20th century. Joint issues between chambers of commerce from different towns remain relatively uncommon, which gives this note an additional historical dimension, illustrating the economic solidarity between two commercial and maritime centres of the Cotentin peninsula.