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25 Centimes

Issuer Commune of Sidi Bel Abbès (Department de Oran)
Year 1916-1918
Type Local banknote
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Obverse description Letterpress-printed emergency issue on buff paper, enclosed within a dotted rectangular border. The issuer's name heads the note above the denomination legend in bold type, with the fractional value '0 fr. 25' centred in the main field; a redemption clause in smaller type runs along the foot. A diagonal purple handstamp cancellation crosses the face.
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Reverse description Plain buff paper enclosed within a dotted border consistent with the obverse. The denomination is rendered in bold letterpress type across three centred lines; a large circular mairie handstamp in purple ink is applied over the text, its circumscription 'MAIRIE DE SIDI-BEL-ABBÈS' partially legible around the perimeter.
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Comments

Sidi Bel Abbès was the garrison town of the French Foreign Legion's headquarters, and by 1916 the wartime drain on small coinage across Algeria had become acute enough that individual communes were authorized to print their own emergency paper fractionals. These municipal nécessités were a purely local fix — valid only within the issuing commune and redeemable, in theory, once the metal shortage eased.

The Oran department produced several such issues. Sidi Bel Abbès was among the more administratively active, which likely explains the multi-year validity window spanning 1916 to 1918.

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