Korça is one of the stranger episodes in Albanian monetary history. In 1916, French forces established the Autonomous Republic of Korça as a buffer administration in southeastern Albania, and it was under this arrangement that the Finance Director issued local currency — including this 1 Frange note — to service the needs of a population that was neither under Ottoman, Albanian, nor Italian control in any straightforward sense. The republic lasted until 1920, making this entire note series one of the shortest-lived local issues in the Balkans.
The issuing authority listed as "Finance Director" rather than a named bank is itself telling — this was improvised wartime administration, not a functioning central bank.
Korça is one of the stranger episodes in Albanian monetary history. In 1916, French forces established the Autonomous Republic of Korça as a buffer administration in southeastern Albania, and it was under this arrangement that the Finance Director issued local currency — including this 1 Frange note — to service the needs of a population that was neither under Ottoman, Albanian, nor Italian control in any straightforward sense. The republic lasted until 1920, making this entire note series one of the shortest-lived local issues in the Balkans.
The issuing authority listed as "Finance Director" rather than a named bank is itself telling — this was improvised wartime administration, not a functioning central bank.