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5 Centimes
| Issuer | Union des Commerçants de Relizane (Department de Oran) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1918 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1848-1959) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in black on red paper, the obverse carries a plain double-rule rectangular border enclosing the issuer's name at the top, followed by the denomination expressed both in words and numerals. Small six-pointed stars flank the central numeral value '0.05', with 'CENTIMES' in bold capitals at the foot of the design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | UNION DE COMMERÇANTS RELIZANE (Translation: Relizane Merchants Union) |
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| Comments |
Emergency small-change tokens issued in paper were common across French Algeria during the First World War, when the hoarding of coins — even the smallest denominations — left local commerce effectively paralyzed. The Union des Commerçants de Relizane was one of dozens of local merchants' associations across the Oran department that stepped in to produce their own fractional substitutes, circulating them as a de facto local currency within their immediate trading communities.
Relizane, a market town in the Chelif valley, was not a major administrative center, which makes surviving examples from this issuer genuinely uncommon.