Catalog
10 Piastres
| Issuer | République Libanaise |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in blue and green on a pale yellow-green underprint, with Arabic script legend of the République Libanaise in an ornate cartouche across the top. Two large guilloche rosettes flank a central oval void, each bearing the numeral '10' above the Arabic denomination 'فروش' (Piastres). Two manuscript signatures appear at lower left and lower right, with the date and place of issue in Arabic centered at the bottom. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown and ochre tones, with the inscription 'REPUBLIQUE LIBANAISE' in a bold curved banner across the upper portion, flanked by the numeral '10' and 'PIASTRES' on each side. The central vignette presents a panoramic engraved scene of the historic Beirut Castle (Burj Barajneh) viewed from the sea, with sailing vessels in the foreground and figures resting beneath a tree to the right, captioned below in French. The date 'BEYROUTH LE 15 FEVRIER 1944' appears in a panel at the bottom, with a delicate floral guilloche underprint throughout. |
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| Comments |
Lebanon's wartime currency arrangements were complicated. The country remained under the Franc Zone through the Second World War, and note production had to be handled outside the Levant entirely — hence this issue coming off presses in Algeria rather than France or Beirut. Imprimerie Procé was a colonial commercial printer, not a specialist banknote firm, and that shows in the production quality relative to prewar issues.
The 1944 series marked one of the last emissions before Lebanon's monetary separation from Syria, which was completed in 1948 when the two countries formally split their currency union.