Banknote Billet France 5 francs 1915-1920

Remarks:

4 épinglages, plis et marque d'usage (légèrement froissé)

Mention ''Annulé'' en noir et '' Service des émigrés'' en rouge en manuscrit et tampon ''Payé''

This 5 francs note was issued by the Town of Mayenne during the period 1915-1920, in a context of monetary shortage characteristic of the First World War and its immediate aftermath. At that time, many French municipalities, chambers of commerce and public institutions were compelled to issue their own emergency notes in order to compensate for the severe lack of fiduciary currency in circulation.

The town of Mayenne, prefecture of the Mayenne department in the Pays de la Loire region, is among the many local authorities that resorted to this type of local issue. These emergency notes, also known as local paper currencies or war issues, are today particularly valuable historical and documentary testimonies for collectors specialising in early 20th-century French numismatics.

The presented example bears the mention « Annulé » (Cancelled), meaning that it was subject to an official demonetisation or an administrative procedure of withdrawal from circulation. This mention was generally affixed, stamped or perforated on notes removed from circulation, in order to prevent any risk of reuse. This characteristic does not diminish the historical or collectible interest of the document ? quite the contrary, it attests to its having undergone a regulated withdrawal procedure.

This type of municipal emergency note perfectly illustrates the pragmatic solutions adopted at the local level to cope with the economic and monetary disruptions of the period. The issues of the Town of Mayenne form part of a broader corpus of French emergency paper money, listed and rated in specialised catalogues, particularly those dedicated to French regional and local emergency notes from the Great War.