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1 Piastre
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Currency | Pound (1919-date) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE SYRIE البنك السوري UNE PIASTRE SYRIENNE غرش سوري واحد BEYROUTH le 1er Janvier 1920 LE SECRÉTAIRE GÉNÉRAL أمين السر العام LE DIRECTEUR المدير BRADBURY, WILKINSON & CO. LD GRAVEURS LONDRES PIASTRE SYRIENNE |
| Reverse description | Printed in purple on plain paper, the reverse is dominated by a central oval intaglio vignette of the standing columns of the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek, set within an elaborate guilloche border of radiating lathe-work patterns that extend to all four corners of the note. The overall design is geometric and symmetrical, with no additional lettering. |
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| Comments |
Bradbury, Wilkinson produced this note at a moment when the Banque de Syrie had only just been established under the French Mandate — the bank received its concession in 1919, and these fractional piastre notes were among the earliest issues it put into circulation. The 1 Piastre denomination addressed a very specific practical problem: the near-total absence of small-change coinage in the immediate post-Ottoman period, when existing coin stocks were hoarded or had simply evaporated.
At 66 × 44 mm, this is genuinely one of the smallest format notes Bradbury, Wilkinson ever produced for a Middle Eastern client.