Banknote Billet France 25 centimes 1914

Remarks:

Plis de comptage et marques de manipulation

This emergency banknote was issued by the City of Épernay on 5 September 1914, just a few weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. In this context of conflict, the shortage of metallic currency led numerous municipalities, chambers of commerce and institutions to issue their own local payment instruments, in order to compensate for the lack of liquidity in circulation.

This note is denominated at a face value of 1 franc, although the associated data also mentions a value of 25 centimes, which may reflect the existence of several denominations issued simultaneously by the same municipal authority. The issue date inscribed on the document, 05-09-1914, makes it a direct testimony to the first weeks of the conflict, a period marked by profound economic disruption in France.

Épernay, a town located in the Marne department, in the Champagne region, was at the time in a particularly exposed area of military tension, close to the front of the Battle of the Marne. The issuance of this note illustrates the emergency measures taken by local authorities to maintain a functional local economy despite the disruptions caused by the war.

This type of emergency currency, issued by French local authorities between 1914 and 1922, now constitutes a fully recognised numismatic category, grouped under the designation of municipal emergency banknotes. These paper documents, often small in format, generally bear the name of the issuing town, the face value, the date of issue, as well as signatures or official stamps guaranteeing their authenticity and local acceptance.

This note represents a historical and numismatic artefact from the period of the First World War, bearing witness to local monetary adaptations in the face of the economic upheavals caused by general mobilisation and the war.