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1 Franc Green
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce d'Alger |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Imprimerie Adolphe Jourdan, Algiers, Algeria (1871-1916) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green, the reverse presents a dense guilloche underprint filling the central field, formed by the continuous repetition of the text "chambredecommerced'alger" in horizontal rows. A bold central panel carries the large numeral and denomination "1 FRANC 1" overprinted across the underprint, and the whole composition is framed within an ornate floral and foliate border. |
| Reverse lettering | 1 FRANC 1 |
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| Comments |
When the First World War disrupted French coin supply almost immediately, chambers of commerce across Algeria stepped in to plug the gap with emergency paper fractions. Alger's chamber was among the earliest, issuing this 1 Franc note in 1914 before formal authorization frameworks had even been established — the legal basis for such issues was largely improvised retroactively.
Adolphe Jourdan was Algiers' dominant commercial printer of the period, not a specialist banknote house. The lack of anti-counterfeiting sophistication in this series reflects that. Surviving examples frequently show edge wear consistent with heavy pocket circulation — small-denomination emergency fractions were used hard.