Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Frange
| Issuer | Finance Director, Korça/Coriza/Korytza |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in red-brown and presents a central panoramic vignette of the town of Korça, with minarets, domed rooftops and mountain scenery in the background, set within an arched frame. The denomination 1fr appears in the upper corners flanking an ornamental monogram at the apex of the arch. A bold rectangular cartouche at the lower centre bears the town name KORCA in large capital letters, surrounded by scrollwork ornaments. |
| Reverse lettering | KORCA 1fr |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
One of the most obscure emergency issues in European monetary history. When French forces withdrew from Korça in late 1918 and the short-lived Albanian Republic of Korça collapsed, these locally issued francs — spelled "frange" in Albanian — became worthless almost overnight. The Finance Director's office had operated under French military protection since 1916, and the currency existed entirely within that political bubble.
The pick number S152 places it firmly in the specialized section — a regional scrip issue, not a national emission. Surviving examples are rare simply because almost nothing about this microstate's brief administration was designed to last.