10 Livres Syriennes

The Banque de Syrie et du Liban occupied an awkward position by 1949 — Syria had declared independence in 1946, yet this French-chartered institution continued issuing currency for both Syria and Lebanon simultaneously, a legacy of the Mandate period that neither new government was fully satisfied with. Syria finally established its own central bank and severed ties with the BSL in 1956.

Printed at the Banque de France's own facilities in Paris, the note carries that institution's characteristically fine intaglio work. The cotton substrate and single watermark are modest security for the period, though the BSL generally relied on print quality as its primary deterrent against forgery.