25 Piastres

The Banque de Syrie et du Liban issued notes on behalf of the Lebanese Republic well into the early independence period — Lebanon didn't gain full control of its monetary system until the Banque du Liban was established in 1964. This 1950 note falls squarely in that transitional stretch, when the French-chartered institution still held the mandate to issue currency for a country that had been formally independent since 1943.

Bradbury Wilkinson handled much of the colonial and post-colonial note production for smaller issuing authorities during this period, and the workmanship on this series is characteristically tight. The 25 Piastres denomination — a quarter of a Lebanese Pound — circulated heavily at street level and wore accordingly.