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5 Centimes
| Issuer | Ville de Mascara (Département de Oran) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Yes |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Hand signature |
| Protection description | A large violet ink manuscript signature applied diagonally across the reverse as a validation control. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Mascara's municipal emergency notes of 1915 belong to a wave of small-denomination paper issued across French Algeria when the wartime coin shortage became acute — metropolitan France had requisitioned bronze and nickel for munitions, and small change simply disappeared from circulation. The Ville de Mascara, like dozens of other Algerian communes, printed its own stopgap.
Imp. Muselit was a local press, not a security printer, which is why hand signatures were the only authentication measure available. That informality is precisely what makes these survivals interesting — they were never meant to last.