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50 Centimes - Chambre de Commerce de Philippeville
| Issuer | Chambre de Commerce de Philippeville |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1848-1959) |
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| Obverse description | Red letterpress on cream paper within a decorative guilloche border. Two allegorical female figures flank the central text panel: at left, a seated figure associated with commerce or industry rests beside trade goods; at right, a similarly draped figure is set against an industrial vignette with factory smokestacks. The denomination appears in both French and Arabic script below the issuer's name, with signature lines for the President and the Secrétaire Trésorier above a manuscript serial number. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Red letterpress on cream paper within a multilayered guilloche frame of floral and geometric ornaments. The denomination numeral '0,50' appears in small squares at upper left and upper right corners. At centre left, a circular seal of the Chambre de Commerce de Philippeville bearing an anchor motif is printed, while at centre right the municipal coat of arms of Philippeville is reproduced. The denomination is stated in large type flanked by numeral repeats, with the Arabic equivalent below, and a redemption clause in French at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
Philippeville — today Skikda in northeastern Algeria — was one of dozens of French Algerian towns whose local chamber of commerce resorted to emergency paper when the outbreak of war in August 1914 triggered an immediate hoarding of coins. The metropolitan banking system had no capacity to respond quickly to the colonies, so chambers of commerce across Algeria filled the void themselves, issuing low-denomination notes on their own authority with no formal backing from the Banque de l'Algérie.
The watermarked paper gives this a slightly more deliberate production quality than many comparable emergency issues from the same period, some of which were little more than printed card stock.