2 1/2 Ghirsh / Piastre WW2 War Coinage, Silver Pattern

Syria and Lebanon were under Free French administration in 1941 following Operation Exporter, the Allied campaign that wrested control from Vichy forces that June. Wartime metal shortages made silver and even standard base metals difficult to source consistently, prompting the Banque de Syrie et du Liban to experiment with substitute compositions. This nickel-plated brass piece is a pattern — it was never approved for circulation — likely produced to test the plating process as an alternative to the nickel coinage that had become nearly impossible to procure through wartime supply chains.