Catalog
1 Livre
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1925-1935 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Syrian pound (1920-1939) |
| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse, printed in polychrome with brown, blue, and ochre tones, presents an intricately patterned Arabesque frame with geometric tile motifs throughout. A horizontal harbour vignette occupying the left half shows a coastal town with small vessels at anchor and mountains rising in the background, rendered in fine intaglio line work. The issuer's name, BANQUE DE SYRIE ET DU GRAND-LIBAN, appears in a panel at the upper left, with GRAND-LIBAN at the top center, the large denomination legend UNE LIVRE at center, and the redemption clause in small lettering along the lower margin; a geometric rosette medallion fills the lower left corner and the numeral 1 within a decorative cartouche occupies the lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermark visible in the blank cartouche area on the obverse |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban was itself a creature of French Mandate politics — established in 1919 as the currency-issuing authority for territories carved from the collapsed Ottoman Empire under League of Nations supervision. France's decision to route note production through the Banque de France rather than a commercial security printer reflected how closely the mandate administration tied monetary control to metropolitan institutions.
Marguerite Dreyfus, who signed her engraving work as "Rita," was among the relatively few women working at that level in French intaglio printing during the interwar period.