World coins chat: Lebanon

Lebanon is a country on the east Mediterranean coast, on the western tip of the Levant, north of Israel, and bordering Syria as well. It has a population of 4.4 million.

The area that is now known as Lebanon has a very rich history and was home to the inventors of currency: the Phoenicians. It also has Greco-Roman, Arab and Ottoman heritage. Lebanon is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse countries of the Middle East, and its capital Beirut was known as 'The Paris of the Orient' until the 1960's. Until that time it was the financial center of the region, but political instability and a long civil war ended that and moved the banks to Dubai.

Lebanon as a country was founded in 1920, when it became a French mandate territory after the partition of the Ottoman Empire as a result of WW1. In 1943 Lebanon declared independence which was granted in 1945. It was a prosperous place until the late 1960's, but became victim of the demographic shockwave caused by the many Palestinian refugees that came from Israel. The previously large Christian community in Lebanon was living in peace with the various Muslim groups, but a long civil war broke out when both Israel and Syria started to mingle with Lebanese affairs. Syria occupied a large part of Lebanon until as late as 2005. The Syrian Civil War has caused new unrest in Lebanon and it remains to be seen if the country can stay out of this conflict.

Currency

The Lebanese Pound (Livre or Lirah) was introduced by the French in 1919 at a rate of 20 Francs, equal to Syrian Pounds. After WW2 the peg shifted to 2.2 Livres per USD and by 1970 to 3/$. The Lebanese Civil War caused a lot of inflation and by 2000 there were 2500 Livres in a Dollar, but a comeback brought this to a now stable rate of 1500L/$.

Coins

Lebanese coinage dates from the 1920's when coins bore the legend 'Etat du Grand Liban'. After independence Lebanon kept using both Arab and French on its coins. Silver was used until the 1950's.

Between the 1986 and 1996 no coins were produced. Coins currently in circulation are 250 and 500 Livres.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/liban-1.html

Phoenician cities deserve to be in this topic too ^^

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/phenicie-1.html

Now, let's turn back to modern Lebanon...

5 Qirush / Piastres 1961 ; 10 Qirush / Piastres 1955, 1961 & 1970 ; 25 Qirshā / Piastres 1952 ; 50 Qirshā / Piastres 1952 ; 250 Līrah / Livres 2003

Lebanon is fairly important to the Western world because many Arab immigrants come from Lebanon, especially those that arrived many decades ago. The reason why is probably because Lebanon has a very large population of Christian Arabs, who blend well with large populations of Mediterranean Europeans (the average Syrian/Lebanese actually has slightly paler skin than the average Greek - they all live on the same sea). So, although Lebanon is not a very large country, it has left its mark on American demography.

Lebanese Republican coins come in three series - those issued immediately after independence, with somewhat experimental designs, those issued up until the civil war, with totally standardized designs, and those issued after the civil war, which have very high denominations.


Lebanon has issued a few interesting lower-denomination coins...


But most of its issues are quite plain.


Here's the complete collection of circulating silver coins issued by the Lebanese Republic.


The higher-denomination coins are not very common because, at the time, 1-livre banknotes were being issued and were preferred to coins. These notes are fairly plentiful because the civil war rendered them worthless.


The post-civil-war coins are standardized in design and are not particularly interesting to look at - but the use of repeating geometric patterns is interesting. The design of the 250 livre coin might be more fitting for a banknote than a coin.


The latest 500-livre coin is produced at the Royal Canadian Mint and has a special lateral-image security feature that is very evocative of a similar feature used on the Canadian $2 coin.

A current set of coins I bought

 

 

There is an octagonal 1990s 50 Livres, the rest are all 2000 or later. They basically have no value, the 500 Livre coin is worth like 7 cents in NZ money!