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500 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919-1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Piastres (5 SYP) |
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| Obverse description | A large cedar tree vignette occupies the right portion of the note, rendered in fine intaglio engraving against a guilloche underprint. The denomination 500 in bold numerals appears at left alongside the Arabic and French bilingual legends, with two lion supporters flanking the bank title at the top and the date Beyrouth 1er Aout 1919 inscribed below the central text block. Two signature panels for Le Secretaire General and Le Directeur appear at the lower centre, with serial number repeated at upper left and lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE SYRIE / البنك السوري / CINQ CENT PIASTRES OU CINQ LIVRES SYRIENNES / خمسمائة غرش أو خمس ليرات سورية / REMBOURSABLE AU PORTEUR EN CHÈQUE SUR PARIS À RAISON DE VINGT CENTIMES FRANÇAIS PAR PIASTRE SYRIENNE / BEYROUTH LE 1er AOUT 1919 / LE SECRÉTAIRE GÉNÉRAL / LE DIRECTEUR / 500 PIASTRES SYRIENNES |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie was established under French mandate authority in 1919, and this 500 Piastres note belongs to the bank's inaugural emission — issued at a moment when the political status of greater Syria was still genuinely contested. Faisal I was governing Damascus with Arab nationalist backing while French and British officials were dividing the region between themselves at the Paris Peace Conference. Notes from this series were circulating into a territory with no settled sovereignty.
Bradbury Wilkinson handled the engraving and printing from their New Malden works. Their involvement was purely a commercial contract — British printers supplying a French-mandated institution.