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25 Livres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of an Arab cemetery with figures and a caravan at right, set within a guilloche-bordered frame against a green underprint. Bilingual text in French and Arabic appears throughout, with the bank title 'BANQUE DE SYRIE' at top and the denomination in both scripts. Date 'Beyrouth, le 1er Janvier 1920' is printed below the vignette, with signature panels for Le Secretaire General and Le Directeur at lower left and right respectively. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central vignette of the Mausoleum of Zainab bint Ali in Damascus, rendered in intaglio, with figures gathered at the entrance steps. The design is executed in a deep rose-red and olive colour scheme, with large arabesque guilloche rosettes framing the denomination numeral '25' at right and in Arabic script at left. The Arabic bank title 'البنك السوري' appears at top centre within a cartouche. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie was established under French mandate authority following the collapse of Ottoman administration, and this 1920 issue belongs to the earliest phase of that transition — a moment when the monetary infrastructure of Greater Syria was being rebuilt almost from scratch. France had inherited a region where Ottoman paper had largely collapsed in credibility, and a new institution backed by the Banque de l'Indochine's capital structure was the chosen instrument for restoring confidence.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement is not surprising — they were the dominant choice for colonial and mandate-era issues requiring security printing at short notice. The Livre syrienne itself was pegged to the French franc at this stage, a political decision as much as a monetary one.