u/Diligent-Ad2700

The CERS is a local currency that circulates in the Narbonne region of france. It has unique square banknotes with the largest denomination being the smallest in size, very interesting.

The Narbonne region is one of the southern most points of continental france and has its own rich cultural history. Each note showcases local paintings and on the back, the drawings of local schoolchildren.

It circulates on par with the euro and as per government regulation, it is exchangeable on demand for euros at any time. All CERS have to be backed up by euros 1:1.

This means most local currencies in France cannot really profit off of selling their notes and indeed many are resisting this idea at all, citing local values and wishing to keep them circulating only in the region.

After much negotiating I was able to get a handful of these notes.

Follow @rareworldbanknotes on Instagram I might post more interesting notes or local currencies in the future :)

In my previous post I showed the 3rd series of the sol Violette bills, this one is the 2nd series, now no longer circulating (but still exchangeable)

Note that unlike the back of the 3rd series, this one has cells for stamping/validation. This mechanism used to be required for some local currencies but was later abandoned to make them even easier to use. The 1st series that I will show tomorrow had an even more restrictive mechanism that required banknotes to be held only for a certain amount of time in an individual hand if not they would lose validity. This was done to require these notes to circulate between locals and local businesses but was rightfully deemed too restrictive.

As reminder the sol Violette is a local currency that circulates in Toulouse, france. More info available about it in my previous post.

(If you are interested in local currencies or other banknotes you can find me @rareworldbanknotes on insta I will try to post some pictures as well there once I figure out how to use it properly 😂)

This is the sol Violette local currency which circulates in and around Toulouse, south france.

This is the 3rd series of banknotes (also have the other two).

I also think this design is quite beautiful and is somewhat soothing.

As a rare local currency in France, it is very hard to obtain or take outside of the region, especially as these are uncirculated.

According to French law, they are exchangeable at par and their equivalent in euros must be maintained on a chartered bank account.

@rareworldbanknotes

The Tissou was a local currency in the north isère department of france. It dissapeared in 2025, which is a shame since their bills are absolutely gorgeous in my opinion, especially in terms of local currencies. The tissou unfortunately suffered from low public interest and lack of sufficient funds to keep the operations of the community currency going. I was able to get a few luckily right as they were being withdrawn from circulation, with the remaining banknotes having been destroyed as french law requires.

A full set is available on ebay (or some lower denominations) at rareworldbanknotes.

By the way, in france local currencies are government approved and sanctioned and must be fully convertible to the euro on demand, to be exchanged by members of the association responsible for its issuing and control.