Banknote Billet France 50 centimes 1915

Remarks:

Plis et salissures

This 50 centimes note was issued by the Chambre de Commerce de Roanne, dated 4 October 1915. It belongs to the particular context of the First World War, a period during which the shortage of metallic coinage led many French chambers of commerce to issue emergency notes to compensate for the lack of small change in circulation.

These emergency currency issues, also known as chamber of commerce notes, were authorised by the public authorities to meet local commercial exchange needs. The Chambre de Commerce de Roanne, an industrial town in the Loire department, took part in this national movement by producing its own denominations, of which this 50 centimes note is a representative example.

These small-denomination notes circulated mainly at the local and regional level, their acceptance being linked to the trust placed in the issuing institution. The Chambre de Commerce de Roanne, like many of its counterparts across France, thus guaranteed the value of its issues to merchants and private individuals in the region.

From a numismatic point of view, this type of note holds significant historical interest as a witness to the economic mechanisms put in place during the wartime period. French chamber of commerce notes from the First World War are today sought after by collectors specialising in emergency currency and French regional paper money. This 1915 note, issued by the chamber of commerce of an important textile and industrial city in central France, represents a valuable documentary piece for understanding the local monetary history of that period.