Banknote France 1 Franc - Cambrai Savings Bank - Serial A2

Remarks:

plis, salissures, nombreux trous, traces de rouille

This 1 franc note was issued by the Caisse d'Epargne de Cambrai, a local financial institution that resorted to issuing emergency currency in the context of the economic and financial disruptions that marked France, particularly during the First World War. This type of local issue was common when official monetary circuits were disorganised or insufficient to meet the everyday needs of the population.

The note belongs to Series A2, which allows it to be precisely identified within the production of this establishment. The issues of the Caisse d'Epargne de Cambrai are distinguished by their strictly local character, intended to compensate for the lack of currency in circulation in the Nord region of France.

A particularly notable mention appears on this note: it is stipulated that it is payable upon the reopening of State financial services. This detail illustrates the context in which this note came into existence, namely a period of suspension or serious disruption of state financial services, forcing local institutions to guarantee the reimbursement of their issues at a later, undetermined date, conditional upon the restoration of the normal functioning of the French financial administration.

This note constitutes an important historical and numismatic testimony of the period of emergency currencies in France. Issues of this type, produced by savings banks, chambers of commerce or municipalities, are today sought-after collectors' items among specialists in the numismatics of the First World War and the French regional economy. The Caisse d'Epargne de Cambrai, a city in the department of Nord, is one of the many regional institutions that participated in this effort of local monetary issuance during this troubled period.