Banknote France 1 Franc - City of Roubaix and Tourcoing - 20-04-1916 - 7th Series

Remarks:

plis et traces de manipulation

This municipal bond with a face value of one franc was jointly issued by the cities of Roubaix and Tourcoing on 20 April 1916, during the German occupation in the First World War. It belongs to the 7th series of this local issue.

During the Great War, the territories of northern France occupied by German forces experienced a severe shortage of official fiduciary currency. Faced with this situation, several municipalities, including Roubaix and Tourcoing ? two major industrial cities in the Nord department that were closely linked economically ? took the initiative to create their own substitute monetary instruments. These municipal bonds were intended to compensate for the absence of currency in circulation and to ensure the continuity of commercial exchanges within the local population.

This type of necessity note represents a significant historical and numismatic testimony of the wartime period, illustrating the ability of municipal authorities to organise themselves in the face of the constraints imposed by the occupation. The joint issuance by two distinct cities highlights the cooperation between these two neighbouring municipalities, whose economic and industrial catchment areas were deeply intertwined, particularly around the textile industry that dominated the region at the time.

The succession of several series of issues, including this 7th series dated 20 April 1916, reflects the duration and scale of the need for local monetary circulation in this territory throughout the occupation. These municipal bonds circulated as a genuine local currency, accepted by merchants and residents of the region, replacing official coins and banknotes that had become impossible to find.

This bond is denominated in francs, the French monetary unit of the time, and is today a rare collectible document, at the crossroads of numismatics and the local and military history of northern France during the First World War.