Syrian pound banknotes

Syrian pound banknotes represent the paper currency of Syria, known locally as the Syrian lira. Nominally divided into one hundred piastres, paper notes constitute the sole circulating currency form currently issued in the country. Official paper currency was initially authorised through the Banque de Syrie, a French affiliate of the Ottoman Bank, and later through the Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban and the Banque de Syrie et du Liban. In modern times, Syrian pound banknotes are issued under the authority of the Central Bank of Syria. Early issues of these Syrian paper notes were bilingual and printed in Europe.

Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Egyptian pound briefly served in the mandate territories until the introduction of the Syrian pound in 1919. Beginning in 1924, a joint Syro-Lebanese pound was issued for a planned fifteen-year term, though the currencies were divided into separate Lebanese and Syrian units two years prior to the expiration of that period. Complete currency separation between Lebanon and Syria occurred in 1948. Banknote issues continued through the post-independence and Ba'athist periods, persisting until transitional reforms prompted a currency revaluation. In December 2025, the Central Bank unveiled a new series of banknote denominations in Damascus, which entered general circulation in January 2026 to replace the earlier circulating paper money.

The physical design of Syrian pound banknotes is distinguished primarily by evolving linguistic and orthographic conventions across different eras. Banknotes produced up to 1958 were bilingual, featuring Arabic text on the obverse and French on the reverse. From 1958 onward, English replaced French on the reverse faces. Additionally, on notes displaying fractional piastre denominations, the spelling of the Arabic word for piastre shifted; issues produced prior to 1947 inscribed the term with an initial Arabic letter ghayn, whereas subsequent printings utilised an initial qaf.