.Lebanon - 100000 Livres Polymer Commemorative Banknotes Celebrating The Centennial Of The Creation Of Greater Lebanon

Lebanese Republic

الجمهورية اللبنانية

Banque Du Liban

Currency - Livre/Pound (LBP) 

This commemorative polymer note of 100000 livres was issued on 07.12.2020 to celebrate the Centennial of the Creation of Grand Liban (Greater Lebanon) 1920-2020. The 100000 livres is the largest denomination of banknotes circulating in the country.

Lebanon was once occupied by the Ottomans empire for more than 400 years. During the early 1900s, the Ottoman empire ruled part of Europe, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Iraq and parts of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Ottoman empire collapsed following the end of the First World War (1914-1918) with its territories split up under the Treaty of Sevres. On 01.09.1920, the State of Lebanon was declared under the League of Nations Mandate whereby the French temporarily took control of Lebanon and Syria and both Palestine and Iraq went to the British. Under the French rule, General Henri Joseph Eugene Gouraud (b.1867-1946) then split Lebanon and Syria into two nations as per today. 

On 22.11.1943, Lebanon declared its independence and the French mandate over Lebanon ended on 24.10.1945. On 24.10.1946, France withdrew all its forces from Lebanon.

Design

Front - Baptistery Crusaders of St John Church The Baptist, Al-Abed Nejmeh Square Clock Tower (Beirut), Beyrouth Cedar tree;

Reverse - Rawsheh rock near Beyrouth, Phoenician ship

The designs of the note depicts mainly famous landmarks in Beirut.  Like all modern banknotes previously issued, the front of the note is printed with Arabic script and on the back is printed in French text.

Dimensions - 146 x 82mm

One Hundred Thousand Livres

Dated 2020, Baptistery Crusaders of St John Church The Baptist, Al-Abed Nejmeh Square Clock Tower (Beirut), Beyrounth Cedar tree

Reverse - Rawsheh rock near Beyrouth, Phoenician ship

.Footnote👀

If you lived in these countries or once a resident of say Brazil, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and few other countries then you will know the feel of living in a country that has a collapsed currency, and Lebanon is one of them now. The Lebanese pound collapsed in September 2019 due to the country's recession, plummeted in foreign reserves and rising inflation. In 1997, the Lebanese pound was pegged at 1,507 against the greenback. Today, the exchange rate is 3000+ pounds to a dollar. The black market rate is even much higher as people are desperate for the US dollar. Needless to say, if you have savings in your bank account, you would have lost more than 50% of its value and even if you have them in USD with a local bank, you are still unable to access the funds as banks have placed restrictions on withdrawal due to shortage of USD supply. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, banks are unable to import foreign currencies into the country to meet the demands.