Catalog
50 Livres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie et du Liban |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
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| Reference(s) | P#47 |
| Obverse description | Printed in green on white paper, the obverse is laid out as a bon de caisse (cashier's voucher) with a geometric guilloche border framing the entire face. The denomination "CINQUANTE LIVRES" is inscribed in large lettering at centre, flanked by Arabic text reading خمسون ليرة and octagonal cartouches bearing Arabic legends at upper left and right. Below the central inscription, redemption terms in French and Arabic, the date "DAMAS LE 1ER AOÛT 1942", serial number YB, and two manuscript signatures above printed titles appear, with the numeral 50 at lower right and the bank name in Arabic script along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE SYRIE ET DU LIBAN BON DE CAISSE BON POUR CINQUANTE LIVRES خمسون ليرة REMBOURSABLES AU PORTEUR À VUE EN UN CHÈQUE SUR PARIS À RAISON DE VINGT FRANCS PAR LIVRE DAMAS LE 1ER AOÛT 1942 LE CONTRÔLEUR SERVICE ÉMISSION SYRIE LE SECRÉTAIRE GÉNÉRAL DES AGENCES DE SYRIE ET DU LIBAN بنك سوريا ولبنان GOVERNMENT PRINTER PALESTINE |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie et du Liban, operating under French Mandate authority, turned to the Government Printer in Jerusalem for this 1942 issue because wartime conditions had severed reliable access to European presses. The same Palestinian facility handled emergency currency work for several regional administrations during this period, making it a quietly pivotal institution in Levantine monetary history.
The 1942 series was issued under considerable political pressure — Free France was consolidating control over Syria and Lebanon following the July 1941 armistice with Vichy forces, and a stable, visibly legitimate currency was part of that consolidation. Notes from this issue circulated alongside British military currency and, in some areas, older Vichy-period stock that had not been fully withdrawn.