5 Piastres

The Banque de Syrie et du Liban was a Franco-Lebanese institution operating under French Mandate concession rights — rights that were becoming increasingly untenable by 1950, with Lebanon fully independent since 1943 and Syria since 1946. The bank retained its note-issuing privilege in Lebanon until 1964, when the Banque du Liban finally assumed central banking functions. This note exists in that awkward interregnum: a colonial-era private bank still printing currency for a sovereign republic.

Bradbury Wilkinson's engraved work for this series is technically accomplished. The 5 Piastres denomination — fractional by this point in everyday commerce — had limited practical use by 1950 given post-war inflation, which likely suppressed circulation volumes.