Catalog
1 Livre
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1939 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Pound (1 SYP) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| 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 | A panoramic city vignette, rendered in intaglio and framed within an ornate cartouche of deep red guilloche work, occupies the central field. Tall decorative pillar motifs flank either side of the composition, surmounted by rearing horse ornaments at the upper corners. The bank title in Arabic script appears in a rectangular panel at top centre, with the denomination numeral printed vertically at right. |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie et du Liban was a French concession bank — its operating license ultimately derived from a 1919 agreement with the French Mandatory authorities, not from any Syrian or Lebanese sovereign institution. By 1939, the bank was issuing currency across both territories simultaneously, which meant notes of this series circulated in two politically distinct administrative zones under the same French Mandate umbrella.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the series in London, an arrangement that would become logistically strained almost immediately — France fell to Germany in June 1940, leaving the Mandate authorities in an awkward position between Vichy loyalty and Free French pressure. Notes already in circulation by then had a longer active life than planned.