Banknote Billet France 25 centimes 1922

Remarks:

Plis et salissures

Date: 01-06-1922

This 25 centimes note was issued in 1922 by the Chambre de Commerce de Toulon et du Var, an institution which, like many French chambers of commerce of the era, was authorised to issue emergency currency in order to address the shortage of small change that plagued France during and after the First World War.

This type of local issue fits into a particular historical context, where daily commercial transactions required low-denomination notes that the national monetary system could no longer provide in sufficient quantities. Chambers of commerce throughout France thus took on the production of these emergency notes, which circulated at a regional or local level.

The note belongs to series 143, which allows it to be identified and distinguished within the overall output of the Chambre de Commerce de Toulon et du Var. This series numbering was common in issues of this type, facilitating the control and management of notes in circulation.

Emergency notes issued by French chambers of commerce were generally produced on relatively modest materials, suited to everyday use and intended for intensive circulation in local shops and markets.

Today, this note represents a direct testimony to the regional monetary and economic history of the Var department, reflecting the institutional adaptations put in place in response to the difficulties in supplying fiduciary currency that France experienced in the early decades of the 20th century.