The first coins were issued in present-day Lebanon by local rulers in the fifth century BC. After the death of Alexander the Great, Lebanon was disputed between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kings, so silver tetradrachms and gold staters of both kingdoms were issued in Lebanon. Phoenicia was annexed by Rome in 64 BC and Roman denarii began circulating. Byzantine coins circulated in Lebanon after the fall of Rome, and from the Umayyad Caliphate on, Islamic coins of Syria circulated in Lebanon. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, modern Lebanon was part of the two Crusader kingdoms. The Crusaders issued gold, silver and copper coins between 1170 and 1289 when the country fell to the Mamluks.
In 1516 Lebanon, previously part of the Mamluk state of Syria and Egypt, became part of the Ottoman Empire. Lebanon briefly allied with Egypt between 1832 and 1840, but became part of the Ottoman Empire on January 16, 1842 when the Mount Lebanon Emirate came to an end. After World War I, the State of Great Lebanon was declared under French Mandate on September 1, 1920, and on September 1, 1926, the Lebanese Republic was founded, gaining independence on November 26, 1941.
Ottoman Empire Piastres (XOTP) and Lira (XOTL) were used in Lebanon while it was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Piastre was divisible into 40 Paras and was issued by the Treasury. After World War I, the British occupied Lebanon and Egyptian Pounds were used until the French Mandate of Lebanon-Syria was established. The French created the Lebanese-Syria Pound (XLSP) equal to 20 French Francs, which were used in a common currency area for both Lebanon and Syria. As a result of inflation in the 1920s, the French administration of Syria and Lebanon devised the Lebanese-Syrian gold pound as a more stable unit of account, and declared it with the arrêtés of September 1926. After the French franc was stabilized against gold in practice December 1926 and by law 25 June 1928, the Lebanese-Syrian paper pound also stabilized against gold, so the gold Lebanese-Syrian pound was discontinued. Conversion occurred at Lebanese-Syrian gold £1 = Lebanese-Syrian paper £4.92.
Banknotes were issued by the Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban from 1925 until 1939, and by the Banque de Syrie et du Liban from 1939 until 1964. The Government of Lebanon also issued banknotes between 1942 and 1950. Technically, the Lebanese and Syrian currencies separated on April 1, 1939, but the separation did not become complete until February 2, 1948 when the Lebanese Pound (LBP) was created. The Banque du Liban has issued banknotes since April 1, 1964. The Pound is divisible into 100 Piastres. |
