5 Pounds Greek face value 'ΛΙΡΑΙ'

The Central Bank of Cyprus began issuing notes independently following the island's 1963–64 intercommunal violence and the subsequent collapse of joint governance arrangements. By 1979, the pound had been fully decoupled from sterling for over a decade, and the face value rendered in Greek — ΛΙΡΑΙ rather than POUNDS — reflected the practical reality that Turkish Cypriot institutions had by then established a separate currency administration in the north following the 1974 partition.

Thomas De La Rue had printed Cypriot notes continuously since colonial-era issues, making this a long-standing contract relationship rather than a one-off arrangement.