France - Treasury

Issued by a variety of sources during WWI and WWII, these banknotes were printed to support French nationals and Allied forces who, for various reasons, needed the availability of Francs while they were in war zones, occupied territories, etc.

Trésorerie aux Armées

In 1917, the french Army Treasury issued these "vouchers" to be used in France's militarized areas, in order to remove all use of silver coinage so that it didn't get into enemy hands. They were also exchanged for locally-issued emergency money in liberated towns. The vouchers had a limited value that expired after the war.

1917-1919

B1103a (

P-M3
VF.5.1

) 2 Francs Lilac. Soldier Being Welcomed Home
"...de la 2e annee qui suivra..." on back

ND (1917)
110 x 70mm
Sig 1

Watermark: Bee pattern

Vallée, L. DEL

(F)

B1104a (

P-M4
VF.2.10

) 50 Centimes Blue. Soldier Being Welcomed Home
"...de la 4e annee qui suivra..." on back

ND (1919)
100 x 65mm
Sig 1

Watermark: Bee pattern

Vallée, L. DEL

(F)

B1105a (

P-M5
VF.4.09

) 1 Franc Lt. Brown. Soldier Being Welcomed Home
"...de la 4e annee qui suivra..." on back

ND (1919)
105 x 65mm
Sig 1

Watermark: Bee pattern

Vallée, L. DEL

(F)

Trésor Central du Comité Français de Libération Nationale

The French Committee of National Liberation (Fr. Comité Français de Libération Nationale) was a provisional government of Free France formed by the French generals Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle to coordinate the campaign to liberate France from Nazi Germany during World War II. The committee directly challenged the legitimacy of the Vichy regime and unified all the French forces that fought against the Nazis and collaborators. It functioned as a provisional government for Algeria (then a part of metropolitan France) and the liberated parts of the colonial empire. Later it evolved into the Provisional Government of the French Republic, under the premiership of Charles de Gaulle.

After liberating Corsica On October 4, 1943, the French Treasury had 500F, 1000F and 5000F notes created specifically for use in the region, and recalled all French notes of those denominations.

1943-1945

B1201a (

P-105a
VF.6.1

) 100 Francs Marianne

Printer: BWC
1943
155 x 100mm
Sig 2

Dulac, E. INV

(F)

Trésor Français

The three denominations below were printed in England on order of the French Treasury for the compulsory exchange of banknotes. They were put into circulation starting June 4, 1945.

1945

B1207a (

P-106
VF.11.1

) 500 Francs Marianne

Printer: TDLR
1943
138 x 78mm

Dulac, E. INV

(F)

B1208b (

P-107
VF.13.1

) 1000 Francs Marianne

Printer: TDLR
1945
151 x 85mm
Sig 2
Thick numerals
Prefix D, E, H, J

Dulac, E. INV

(F)

Gouvernement Provisoire de la Republique Française

This series of banknotes was put into circulation in 1944 by the treasury services of the allied armies in the regions liberated by the Normandy landings (June 6) and of Provence (August 15). These denominations became legal tender by an order of the Provisional Government of the Republique Française dated August 28, 1944.

All the values in this first series were printed in the United States.