Banknote Billet France 20 francs 1914

Remarks:

Plis de comptage, 5 épinglages

Annulé par perforation

This 20-franc necessity note was issued by the City of Cambrai in 1914, in the particular context of the beginning of the First World War. Necessity notes are local monetary instruments issued by municipalities, chambers of commerce or private establishments, intended to compensate for the shortage of official fiduciary currency that characterised this period of economic and military crisis.

This note bears the number 16931 and belongs to the 2nd series, reflecting a significant issuance by the city of Cambrai to meet local monetary needs. The mention "Annulé" (Cancelled) stamped on this document indicates that it was officially withdrawn from circulation and invalidated by the issuing authorities, a common practice once necessity notes were removed from the local economic circuit. This cancellation is generally materialised by a perforation, an overprint or a stamp applied directly to the note.

Cambrai, a city in the Nord department, was occupied by German forces as early as August 1914, which gives these local monetary issues a particularly notable historical dimension. The notes issued by the city are part of a tradition of siege and necessity currencies that dates back several centuries in French numismatic history.

Municipal necessity notes from this period now constitute direct testimonies of the economic disruptions caused by the world conflict, and are collected both for their numismatic interest and for their historical and documentary value. The face value of 20 francs represented a significant intermediate denomination within the French monetary system of the time.