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50 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de Syrie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919-1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | A vignette of the city of Damascus with a steamship at upper centre, framed within a finely engraved border with ornate corner rosettes and guilloche underprint in green and brown tones. The bank title appears in both French and Arabic script across the upper portion of the note, with denomination text in French and Arabic arranged in horizontal bands across the centre. Date and place of issue reading "BEYROUTH" appear at the left, with the serial number repeated at lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE SYRIE البنك السوري CINQUANTE PIASTRES OU UNE DEMI LIVRE SYRIENNE خمسون قرشاً أو نصف ليرة سورية Remboursable au porteur en chèque sur Paris à raison de vingt centimes français par piastre Syrienne يدفع لحامله قائلاً «شك» على باريس أو قيمته الفرش السوري بثمن سنتيم باريسي CINQUANTE PIASTRES OU UN DEMI LIVRE SYRIENNE REMBOURSABLE AU PORTEUR EN CHÈQUE SUR PARIS À RAISON DE VINGT CENTIMES FRANÇAIS PAR PIASTRE SYRIENNE |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Syrie was established in 1919 under French mandate authority, replacing the Ottoman Imperial Bank as the note-issuing institution for Syria and Lebanon. This 50 Piastres note belongs to the bank's inaugural series — the first paper currency issued under the new mandatory administration, circulating in a region whose Ottoman monetary infrastructure had effectively collapsed at the end of the war.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement was a deliberate choice: the New Malden firm had a well-established relationship with French colonial and semi-colonial banking institutions. The piastre denominations in this series were primarily aimed at small transactions in a market still heavily reliant on coin.