1944 2 Francs France [solved]

Hello,

I have this 1944 France 2 Franc bill that has signatures on it. I belive that they are soldiers signatures from the war, but I would like to get some other opinions before drawing a conclusion.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts

Abram

-Yes it appears to be a “short snorter.”  WW2 soldiers had a tradition of swapping notes at the bars (or something like that) & would add their name on each swap.

There are many collectors who seek these bills.  Here's an American site which covers US short snorters.

Nice one!

Thanks. I thought there was a term for these signed bills but I couldn't think of it. I bought this without even knowing it was in the lot. It was sandwiched between two huge polish 1000 Mareks. I guess I got lucky.

Sometimes these Short snorters have the signatures of famous people on them. 

There are a few such snorters, the Ledo Road Short snorter for example, commemorating the Ledo Road construction project during World War two - it is signed by a lot of senior people of the time, including Louis Mountbatten.

The Harry Hopkins Short Snorter is signed by both Churchill and FDR amongst others. A nice piece of history. It links the London Conference (July, 1942) and the Cassablanca Conference (January 1943).

The Averell Harriman Short Snorter, Cassablanca Conference, January 1943. Again signed by Churchill and FDR.

Another is the Yalta short snorter:  http://www.shortsnorter.org/Yalta_snorter.html

From: www.shortsnorter.org/

A short snorter is a banknote which was signed by various persons traveling together or meeting up at different events and records who was met. The tradition was started by bush pilots in Alaska in the 1920's and subsequently spread through the growth of military and commercial aviation. If you signed a short snorter and that person could not produce it upon request, they owed you a dollar or a drink (a “short snort”, aviation and alcohol do not mix!).