Catalog
500 Lire
| Issuer | Military Authority in Tripolitania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Lire |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in green, the obverse presents a central guilloche underprint within an ornate scrollwork border, with denomination numerals rendered in both Western and Arabic script at each corner. A lion passant guardant surmounting a crown forms the principal vignette to the right, a heraldic device characteristic of British Military Authority issues. The issuing authority legend runs across the upper portion in both English and Arabic. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse, also in green, is dominated by a large ornate cartouche at centre containing the denomination numeral '500' above the word 'LIRE', framed by elaborate acanthus-leaf scrollwork executed in an intaglio style. Fine-line guilloche patterns fill the background throughout the note, while a plain rectangular panel in the right field appears reserved for an official stamp or validation mark. |
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| Comments |
Tripolitania had been an Italian colony since 1911, but by late 1942 British Eighth Army forces had driven Rommel's Afrika Korps westward through Libya. When Tripoli fell in January 1943, the British military administration needed a functioning currency immediately. These Allied Military Lire — printed in the United States — were introduced to replace Italian colonial issues and stabilize a fractured economy under occupation.
The fixed exchange rate pegged to the pound sterling caused significant black market distortion, a problem the occupying authority consistently underestimated.