Catalog
10 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed predominantly in red and brown on a fine guilloche ground, with the denomination numeral '10' appearing at top and bottom centre within ornate geometric frames. The Arabic bank title 'البنك السوري' is set in a horizontal band across the middle, flanked by symmetrical rosette vignettes at left and right. The printer's imprint 'Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Gravure Londres' runs along the lower margin, and the text 'PIASTRES SYRIENNES' appears above and below the central band. |
| Reverse lettering | 10 PIASTRES SYRIENNES 10 البنك السوري |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie was established under French mandate authority following the post-WWI dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, and this 1920 issue was among the earliest notes put into circulation under the new order. France had secured the Syrian mandate at San Remo in April 1920 — the ink was barely dry on that agreement when these notes entered use.
Bradbury Wilkinson was a logical choice for the commission: the New Malden firm handled sensitive currency work for numerous colonial and mandate territories throughout the interwar period. The piastre denomination itself was carried over directly from Ottoman usage, a deliberate continuity intended to ease public acceptance of the new currency regime.