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1 Livre Syrienne
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by an intricate geometric guilloche underprint in salmon-pink and grey, with a large blank oval cartouche at the left intended for a vignette. The central field carries the serial number, date inscription in Arabic (دمشق في ١ تموز سنة ١٩٤٩), and two handwritten signatures below the titles الرئيس (President) and مدير شعب سوريا (Director, Syrian Branch). The denomination numeral '1' appears in ornamental roundels at lower corners, with corner serial numbers and the French inscription UNE LIVRE at upper centre. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a richly coloured arabesque border of interlaced geometric and floral motifs in blue, green, orange, and gold, framing two large blank arched panels separated by a central vignette of a coastal landscape with mountains, sailboats on calm water, and cultivated fields rendered in soft intaglio tones. The denomination is inscribed in large Arabic script at centre reading لیرة سوریة واحدة, with a small numeral '1' cartouche at lower right corner. |
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| Comments |
By 1949, Syria had been independent for three years, yet the Banque de Syrie et du Liban — a French concessionary institution — was still issuing currency for the country. The arrangement was deeply resented in Damascus, and negotiations to establish a fully Syrian central bank were already underway. This note was printed during that liminal period, when French financial control was effectively on borrowed time.
Syria broke from the joint currency system entirely in 1950, making the 1949 issues among the last produced under this structure. P#63 survives with some frequency, but genuinely uncirculated examples are harder to place than the catalog suggests.