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50 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1925 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | سوريا بنك سورية ولبنان الكبير خمسون قرشا قابلة للسداد لحامليها بشيك في باريس أو مرسيليا بمعدل عشرين فرنكًا للجنيه الإسترليني (Translation: Syria Bank of Syria and Greater Lebanon Fifty Piastres Redeemable to bearer by check in Paris or Marseille at the rate of Twenty Francs per Pound) |
| Reverse description | Multicolor print with French text. A scenic vignette presents a view through classical columns toward a village and mosque, rendered in soft tonal engraving. The surrounding border consists of arabesque guilloche ornament consistent with the obverse design, with denomination and bank name inscriptions in French across the upper and lower registers. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban was itself a French concession — a private institution operating under League of Nations Mandatory authority, with the Banque de France handling production. Clément Serveau was a prolific designer of French colonial currency in this period, and Paul Bornet's engraving work appears across multiple denominations of this series, giving the whole issue an unusually coherent visual discipline for a mandate territory.
P#22 is among the scarcer denominations of the 1925 series. The mandate's political fragility — Lebanon and Syria were administered together but already pulling in different directions — meant the issuing authority's lifespan was limited. The bank was restructured and renamed in 1939.