France - Emergency

The term "emergency note" covers any note, bond or debt mechanism that was issued as a result of the central bank not being able to provide banknotes or coinage. Typically emergency notes were used during wartime. One group of these notes are the Chamber of Commerce notes of WWI shown here. At the start of the first world war in 1914, France immediately suspended use of gold coins and the conversion of banknotes to gold. As inflation grew, French coinage was being hoarded for its gold and silver content. Merchants were unable to process small transactions with customers. In August of 1914, the Chamber of Commerce of Paris requested, and was authorized to issue small bearer bonds in denominations of 0.25F, 0.5F, 1F, 2F, that would be legal tender among the Paris merchants that agreed to accept them. As financial backing, the Chamber of Commerce would place an equivalent amount of cash on deposit with the Banque de France. Soon thereafter, the Chambers of Commerce of other cities throughout France implemented the same mechanism as done in Paris, and issued their own bearer bonds for local use. This system was maintained for at least five years, at which time its faults started to show; paper money was not able to withstand the constant handling required of small denominations, and the bonds were being used beyond the local scope of each Chamber of Commerce. In 1921, it was decided to issue bronzed plated aluminum "Jetons", in 0.5F, 1F and 2F denominations, to replace the paper bearer bonds. These Jetons were usable across the country. These Chamber of Commerce notes are quite common, and prices generally range from $5-$20 today.