5 Qirsh / Piastres

Syria's first aluminum bronze coinage was issued under the French Mandate, with monetary policy dictated by the Banque de Syrie et du Liban — a privately held French institution that retained control of the Syrian currency supply throughout the interwar period. The mandate administration used coinage as a deliberate tool of administrative normalization, replacing the fragmented Ottoman monetary remnants still circulating in Syrian markets.

The series ran across fourteen years with several Lec varieties distinguishable by date placement and mintmark, the Paris mint handling all production.