Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a richly coloured arabesque border of interlaced geometric and floral motifs in blue, green, orange, and gold, framing two large blank arched panels separated by a central vignette of a coastal landscape with mountains, sailboats on calm water, and cultivated fields rendered in soft intaglio tones. The denomination is inscribed in large Arabic script at centre reading لیرة سوریة واحدة, with a small numeral '1' cartouche at lower right corner. |
| Reverse lettering | بنك سوريا ولبنان لیرة سوریة واحدة |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
By 1949, Syria had been independent for three years, yet the Banque de Syrie et du Liban — a French concessionary institution — was still issuing currency for the country. The arrangement was deeply resented in Damascus, and negotiations to establish a fully Syrian central bank were already underway. This note was printed during that liminal period, when French financial control was effectively on borrowed time.
Syria broke from the joint currency system entirely in 1950, making the 1949 issues among the last produced under this structure. P#63 survives with some frequency, but genuinely uncirculated examples are harder to place than the catalog suggests.