50 Piastres

The 1945 Syrian notes were issued under the French Mandate's final, politically charged phase — France was simultaneously trying to reassert administrative control while Syrian nationalists pushed hard for full independence, which came formally in 1946. The 50 Piastres denomination served the lower end of daily commerce during a period of acute monetary uncertainty, when the Syrian pound was still tied to the French franc through the Banque de Syrie et du Liban, an arrangement resented by the Syrian government precisely because it kept monetary authority in French hands.

Pick 56E is a signature variety within the broader 1945 piastres series — the suffix letters distinguishing what are otherwise nearly identical notes.