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50 Livres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in red and brown tones on a cream-colored cotton paper ground, with an ornate guilloche border of arabesque rosettes framing the entire face. The central field carries Arabic text inscriptions including the bank name بنك سوريا والبنان الكبير, city of issue بيروت, and date, flanked by two large denomination numerals ٥٠ in red at lower left and lower right. The overprint SYRIE 1939 appears in bold serif lettering across the centre, with two manuscript signatures below the Arabic text at left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | بنك سوريا والبنان الكبير بيروت SYRIE 1939 ٥٠ ليرة |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban was a French concessionary institution operating under the French Mandate, and by 1938 its days as sole issuing authority were already numbered — the mandate itself was unraveling politically, and Syria's 1936 treaty with France (never ratified) had promised an independent state. Notes of this series were printed by the Banque de France, which brought its full intaglio craft to the job.
The "Grand-Liban" in the bank's name reflects the enlarged Lebanon that France carved out in 1920, incorporating Beirut and the coastal cities into what became the Lebanese Republic. Pick #39I denotes a specific signature combination within the series — earlier and later signature variants carry meaningfully different scarcity profiles.