50 Livres

The Banque de Syrie was established in 1919 under French Mandate authority, effectively replacing Ottoman monetary structures with a French-controlled institution backed by the Banque de l'Indochine. This 50 Livres dates to the very first year of that arrangement — a moment when the currency itself was a political instrument, establishing French financial authority over a territory whose borders were still being negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference.

Bradbury Wilkinson handled the printing from their New Malden works in Surrey. The choice of a British security printer for a French mandate currency was not unusual for the period — BW had the facilities, and political rivalry rarely interfered with procurement at that level.