Billet France 1 franc 1916 UNC

This 1 franc note was issued in 1916 by the Chambre de Commerce de Chalon-sur-Saône, Autun et Louhans, in the context of the First World War. During this period, the shortage of metallic currency led many French chambers of commerce to issue their own emergency notes, intended to compensate for the lack of circulating currency.

The presented specimen bears the mention « ANNULÉ » (CANCELLED), indicating that it was officially withdrawn from circulation and invalidated by the issuing authority. This cancellation procedure was commonly used to prevent any fraudulent reuse of out-of-circulation notes. It was generally carried out by means of a perforation, a stamp, or an overprint directly on the note.

The Chambre de Commerce de Chalon-sur-Saône, Autun et Louhans brought together several districts of Saône-et-Loire under a single economic authority, reflecting the commercial and administrative organisation of this region of Burgundy. The emergency notes issued by this chamber now constitute direct historical testimonies of the economic and monetary difficulties caused by the First World War in France.

This note belongs to the category of emergency currencies or war currencies, with a face value of 1 franc. These local issues were governed by government decrees temporarily authorising chambers of commerce to supplement official currency. They were generally printed on paper, with mandatory mentions such as the face value, the issuing entity, and the year of issue.

 

 

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