The Banque de Syrie was established under French Mandatory authority following the post-WWI carve-up of the former Ottoman territories, and this 1920 issue — among the earliest notes of the series — was printed in London by Bradbury Wilkinson before any local infrastructure existed to support such production. France held the mandate but the British press got the contract, a practical arrangement that was never particularly remarked upon at the time.
Pick 10 is scarce in any grade. The political instability of the early Mandate period, compounded by currency confusion inherited from the Ottoman and wartime Franco-Syrian monetary overlap, meant high-denomination notes circulated hard or disappeared quickly into hoarding.
The Banque de Syrie was established under French Mandatory authority following the post-WWI carve-up of the former Ottoman territories, and this 1920 issue — among the earliest notes of the series — was printed in London by Bradbury Wilkinson before any local infrastructure existed to support such production. France held the mandate but the British press got the contract, a practical arrangement that was never particularly remarked upon at the time.
Pick 10 is scarce in any grade. The political instability of the early Mandate period, compounded by currency confusion inherited from the Ottoman and wartime Franco-Syrian monetary overlap, meant high-denomination notes circulated hard or disappeared quickly into hoarding.