Set Description:
Lebanon Banknotes HSB Collection, 1925 to date
I am glad to share with you my collection of Lebanese banknotes from the first issue in 1925 when Lebanon was under the French mandate up to our current days. I started building this collection in 2010 when I saw one Lebanese Lira on eBay that I used to use when I was a small kid. Over the years, I kept on adding more notes and started doing research and looking for information anywhere I could. I went to auction houses in person, like Spink in London and Heritage in Dallas, and I became a regular attendee of online auctions worldwide. While I have a big international collection, my main focus remained always on Lebanese banknotes.
The main attractions of collecting Lebanese banknotes are the beautiful design used in a majority of them, and the rarity of a number of these pieces. Among the Arab countries, few Lebanese notes rank amongst the rarest in the region. In addition, since Lebanon was under French mandate (1920-1943), early issues of banknotes were commissioned by the French bank (Banque de France) to talented artists who delivered beautiful artworks. My interest in collecting these notes, and banknotes in general, has also to do with the historical and human perspectives attached to them. In addition to the monetary value of these notes at the time, I believe that each note has a story to tell. As a collector, I also look for references that help guide me and other collectors in finding useful information about the banknotes: art used, signatures, photos engraved, etc.
The publication of several books in the last two decades has helped Lebanese collectors immensely. Starting with "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money " as a benchmark reference, Muszynski and Kolsky then published "Les billets du Maghreb et du Levant" in 2002, that had a good section on Lebanese notes. The next main reference came out in 2005 by Abdo Ayoub "Lebanon Paper Money and Coins". This was the first book fully dedicated to Lebanese notes and it contained a wealth of information and data that helped collectors. Recent books include "Professional Catalogue of Lebanese Banknotes" by Ali Chour, "The History of Lebanese Banknotes 1919-1964" by Tony Anka and Wissam Allaham, and "World Paper Money, Primary and Unusual" by Hussein Maaz and Osama Chamseddine.
While it is easy to collect Lebanese notes printed after 1952, finding some of them in high grades (65+) might be challenging. Completing the Lebanese collection is impossible since some notes are not known to exist any longer. Notes printed prior to 1945 are the hard ones to find, specially those in higher denominations. There is also an increased interest in notes that display beautiful and attractive art and scenery. For example, please check Pick 1 in my collection, 25 Piastres 1925 (Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban). This is the first ever Lebanese banknote and it shows appealing ornate design on the front while the back shows the mills of Hama in Syria (Lebanon was called Grand-Liban at the time and both Lebanon and Syria were under the French mandate). This note is one of a group of uncirculated notes discovered around 2012 or 2013 in very good shape, thus the high grade (PMG 64).
A very interesting series of issued banknotes were the 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 Livres printed by Bradbury and Wilkinson in 1939, picks 26-30, for the Banque de Syrie et du Liban (Bank of Syria and Lebanon). These notes were printed in London during WWII and marked with different geometric shapes to allow authorities to cancel them if the enemy got hold of the notes during shipping from the UK to Lebanon. The banknotes were dated 1 September 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland. They issued five overprints for the 1 Livre, four overprints for the 5 Livres, three overprints for the 10 Livres, two overprints for the 25 Livres, and three overprints for the 50 Livres.
The jewel of the crown, in my collection, is the Carpet Note. This is one of the most beautiful banknotes worldwide: Lebanon's 1945 pick 53 100 Livres. This attractive note was very rapidly nicknamed Carpet Note or even Magic Carpet Note by some collectors, because it resembles real carpets. This note is sought after by collectors everywhere. Three great artists (Fel, Broutin, and Armanelli) worked on this masterpiece. The front side shows an ornate design mixing camels, flowers, birds, and jewels. Lebanese cedar and snowy mountains are on the back. A beautiful bullhead is used as as watermark.
Several notes in my collection, like the Carpet Note, enjoy Top Pop designations in the PMG population report, something I am proud of. In addition, the collection contains a good number of notes with a PMG 70* grade, the most elusive designation.
I find it very important for collectors to exchange information and to display their collections as such practices enrich the hobby. I sincerely hope you will enjoy looking at my collection.
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