50 000 Livres 70 Years of Independence

Issued to mark the seventieth anniversary of Lebanese independence from the French Mandate, this is one of the few commemorative polymer notes Banque du Liban has produced, and it stands apart from the regular circulation series in both substrate and intent. Thomas De La Rue printed the note in London — one of the earliest large-denomination Lebanese polymer issues — at a moment when the country's currency had long been stabilized by the hard peg to the US dollar introduced in 1997.

The polymer substrate was a deliberate security choice rather than a centennial novelty. Lebanon had suffered severe counterfeiting problems with earlier paper issues during and after the civil war period.