Banknote France 2 Francs - City of Iwuy - 19-11-1914

Remarks:

épinglages, plis, salissures, coupures, manques importants en marge

This 2-franc communal voucher was issued by the commune of Iwuy, a locality in northern France, on 19 November 1914. It was produced in the particular context of the early stages of World War I, a period during which many French municipalities, especially in territories occupied or disrupted by the fighting, were forced to issue their own local means of payment to compensate for the shortage of official currency.

The commune of Iwuy, located in the department of Nord, was among the territories rapidly affected by the advance of German troops from the autumn of 1914. Faced with the disorganisation of the national monetary system and the disappearance of metal coinage through hoarding, the municipal authorities put these communal vouchers into circulation in order to ensure the continuity of local economic exchange.

This type of numismatic document, although it takes the form of a banknote, constitutes a strictly local and unofficial issue in the governmental sense of the term. Its face value is 2 francs, the French monetary unit in use at the time. These communal vouchers issued in 1914 are today precious historical testimonies of the organisation of local economic life in wartime, and represent a fully-fledged collecting category in the field of necessity numismatics.

Issues of this type are generally characterised by their sober appearance, mentioning the identity of the issuing municipality, the nominal value, the date of issue and sometimes the signature of a representative of the municipal authority. The precise date of 19 November 1914 inscribed on this voucher allows it to be situated with accuracy in the very first months of the conflict, which further enhances its historical and documentary interest.