Billet de nécessité 5 Francs Carcassonne

Necessity notes from French municipal welfare bureaus occupy an odd corner of notaphily — issued by institutions whose primary function was poor relief, not monetary policy, yet pressed into quasi-monetary service during periods when small change effectively vanished from circulation. The Bureau d'Aide Sociale de Carcassonne produced this 5 Francs billet to fill exactly that gap, almost certainly during the coin shortages of the First or Second World War, when centimes and small franc coins were hoarded, melted, or simply absent from daily trade.

Local merchants were typically obligated — informally or by municipal pressure — to accept these notes, though legal tender status was never formally granted. Redemption records for Carcassonne's welfare bureau issues are poorly documented.