FRANCE - OLD WORLD WAR ONE ERA BANKNOTE - Joint issue banknote from Chambre de Commerce De La Roche s/-Yon et de la Vendée issue 1915 - Bon de CINQUANTE CENTIMES in at least Very Fine, lightly handled, hardly circulated Condition - a superb note with no pinholes - Serie H and Serial No. 29580.
RARE EMERGENCY ISSUE FRENCH NOTE FROM WORLD WAR ONE PERIOD.
La Roche-sur-Yon is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department.
Catalogue Reference:- Pirot#65-14.
Chambre de Commerce De La Roche sur Yon & de la Vendée
50 Cinquante Centimes - Émission 1915
Size - 117 x 76mm.
Serial No. 29580 at the lower left in Black and Série H at the lower right in Yellowish Brown.There are two signatures above the Serial and Série as follows, L.Dupain as Le Président and F.Douteau as Le Trésorier.
The note is in shades of Yellow Brown. It has a great design, with the famous image of 'La Semeuse' at the lower left on the face, this image of a young girl sowing seeds from a basket is an iconic image of France - it was originally designed by the medallist Oscar Roty in 1898 for use on the then, new silver coins to be minted by the Third Republic, at the turn of the 20th Century. The image of the young woman sowing seeds against a background image of a rising sun, became so popular that it also appeared on stamps and posters as well. In 1960 it was reused for the New Franc coins.
As well as being used on this emergency banknote in World War One, the image is used on the 50 Euro Cent Coins issued in France currently.
The reverse of the note has text indicating that the note could be exchanged at branches of La Banque de France in multiples of 10 only and no final date was given for exchange, a common feature on these emergency notes issued from 1914 to 1916, when no end to the war could be envisaged.The name of the firm that printed the note is in the bottom margin at the centre in very small Yellow Brown letters as follows - IMP.MODERNE. NANTES.
This old Emergency Banknote has seen a little circulation, but it does have some light handling, with a strong central Vertical crease and a much lighter horizontal crease. It is crisp, bright and clean on the face, the reverse has some light discolouration along the lines of the creases. There is no damage to the note at all, that means it has none of the commonly found pinholes, so often found on French notes of the period, so that is a bonus!
The note is scarce in this superb, GVF condition.
This is an example of one of the sought after French emergency notes. Low but sensible Buy It Now price of £9.95 with a Make Offer option - See my other banknotes in my eBay shop, all reasonable offers accepted on Buy It Now items - use the Make Offer option on most items.
Good value here, in this superb condition.
HISTORICAL NOTES:- Billets de Nécessite and other Emergency notes were issued in Europe - predominantly in France, during and after World War One from about 1914 and up to the early 1920's, they were used in towns and regions in place of coins which during wartime became scarce as the metal was needed for industry, their use by and large became redundant by the mid 1920's as the economies began to recover following the privations of Wartime. On most of them there was an issue date with details of the date and time they could be re exchanged for regular currency issued by the Banque de France or other Central Bank.
There are hundreds of different types, they were issued mainly in denominations of 50c, 1 Franc and 2 Francs. They are interesting historic documents. The same issues were often printed on any paper that was to hand, sometimes of poor quality, even lined paper from School exercise books, tissue paper, tracing paper and cardboard were used on occasion.
PINHOLES:- Most French notes of the period inevitably had pinholes because of the quirky way that shops used to deal with banknotes, when a customer paid for an item with notes, a receipt was always given and a copy kept by the retailer to which he stapled or pinned the banknote. The practise had generally died out in France by the 1980's, but it still goes on in some shops in rural areas to this day!!
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