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5 Lire
| Issuer | Military Authority in Tripolitania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943-1951 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Dark green and red-orange letterpress note with a central vignette of the British Royal Arms — a lion passant guardant atop an imperial crown — set within an arched guilloche frame. Flanking the central vignette are two large denomination cartouches reading FIVE LIRE enclosed in concentric lathe-work rosettes, with the Arabic numeral ٥ and the legend ليرات at upper left and the numeral 5 and LIRE at upper right. The issuing legend ISSUED BY THE MILITARY AUTHORITY IN TRIPOLITANIA runs across the top, while a lower panel carries the Arabic text طبع بامر السلطة العسكرية لطرابلس الغرب within a ruled border, all set against a finely engine-turned guilloche underprint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 5 LIRE |
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| Comments |
The British Military Authority notes for Tripolitania were produced to facilitate occupation currency administration following the Allied capture of the territory from Italian forces in early 1943. Tripolitania was governed separately from Cyrenaica under British military administration, and each territory received its own BMA issues — a bureaucratic distinction that reflected genuine uncertainties about how North Africa would be divided in any postwar settlement.
The date range spanning to 1951 reflects continued use well into the period of UN trusteeship, years after the military rationale had dissolved. Libya did not achieve independence until December 1951, and these notes remained legal tender until almost the final hour.