Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
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!
50 Livres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947-1949 |
| 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 | The face is dominated by an elaborate arabesque border in intaglio, with large circular guilloche rosettes at left and right centre forming the primary decorative underprint. The Syrian State Arms and a Ministry of Finance overprint in Arabic appear at centre, flanked by denomination numerals '٥٠' in ornate cartouches at lower left and right. Two manuscript signatures appear at centre alongside the date in Arabic script, with the issuing authority inscription above. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a vignette of a domed Oriental building — consistent with the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem — set within a landscaped scene with walls and cypress trees, rendered in a detailed intaglio engraving. The composition is framed by an ornamental arch with arabesque patterning and a repeating geometric border. The denomination in Arabic script is overprinted in red across the central vignette, with corner numerals '50 LIVRES' repeated in each margin. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
The Banque de Syrie et du Liban was a French-controlled institution operating under mandate authority, and by the time this note was issued, that political arrangement was already collapsing. Syria had declared independence in 1946; Lebanon in 1943. The bank continued issuing notes into 1949 largely because no replacement central banking structure was yet operational — this series exists in the gap between mandate currency and genuine national issue.
Serveau and Deloche were a well-established Banque de France pairing, responsible for several colonial and mandate note series of the period. Deloche's intaglio work is characteristically fine.