From Napoleon III's mistress to cash-strapped modern-day bankers, Parisians have for centuries stored their jewels and secrets in a discreet building not far from the Seine: the public pawnbroker.

Set up in the 17th century in response to usurious moneylenders, the non-profit Credit Municipal has a new task - helping Parisians weather the economic crisis with traditional loans and cutting-edge financial services.

In the ornate rooms where Auguste Rodin once pawned a hand from one of his sculptures to raise cash, immigrant mothers with toddlers queue to pledge their dowry gold or secure a low-cost loan.

Not all clients are poor. Aristocrats from the elegant 16th arrondissement regularly turn up with heirlooms.

"We are a bit like the emergency room in a hospital," director Bernard Candiard said in the labyrinthine headquarters in the mediaeval Marais district.

"Most of our clients are from a modest background, but there are also ladies in fur coats who are tightening the purse strings a bit."

Last year, client numbers rose by 30 per cent to more than 500 a day. This year, several bankers quietly pawned some paintings, using the loans to pay their taxes. Credit Municipal last year also started accepting more unusual collateral, such as fine wine and photographic art. Clients can borrow between 50 and 70 per cent of the value.

"We told ourselves, in the end it's easier for someone to go into his cellar and bring us some good bottles of wine than to take down the paintings in the dining room, or remove his wife's necklace," said Mr Candiard.

In an age of internet banking and online currency speculation, Credit Municipal feels quaintly and reassuringly old-fashioned. Its storage vaults are stuffed with close to a million objects, mainly jewellery but also art works, books, stamps, fur coats, and an umbrella that has been there for about 50 years.

A former aristocratic client, seafarer and bon vivant Prince de Joinville, peers from a 19th century portrait outside Mr Candiard's office.

He pawned his watch to pay gambling debts, and told friends he had left it at his aunt's - chez ma tante is now a French euphemism for pawning.

With €74 million in loans last year, up from €63 million in 2007, and an average loan of €1,100, Credit Municipal is much smaller than a commercial bank.

At the same time, its basic principles, such as a strong relationship with clients and conservative lending practices, hold important lessons for the future of banking.

Few other countries have institutions like Credit Municipal, founded as in 1637 in response to usurers demanding interest rates of between 100 and 300 per cent.

Today, clients pay between four and 14 per cent interest and can extend the loan for as long as they wish.

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