1 Qirsh / Piastre

Syria's zinc coinage of 1940 was a direct consequence of wartime metal shortages — copper and nickel had been redirected toward the war effort, forcing the French Mandate administration to substitute zinc for subsidiary denominations. The shift was abrupt; earlier piastre issues in this series had used copper-nickel, and the changeover happened mid-type, producing the "a" variant recorded here. Zinc corrodes readily in the Syrian climate, and well-preserved survivors are considerably scarcer than the mintage figures suggest.