PREVIEW: THE IBRAHIM SALEM COLLECTION OF SYRIA AND LEBANON: 12 FEBRUARY

This exceptional collection reflects the personality of its collector, Ibrahim Salem, as set out in Noonans’ last newsletter along with a taster of the highlights. Here we bring you more from the Banque de Syrie et du Liban, Syria, which operated under the French mandate.

Two wartime notes, the first uncirculated, illustrate the quality of the Ibrahim Salem collection nicely on two counts: rarity and condition. The 5 Livres, dated 1 August 1942, with the extremely low serial number Z-E 000009, carries the Perot and Deligny signatures. An utterly exceptional note and by far the finest example graded by PMG of this short-lived issue, it is estimated at £6,000-8,000.

The second note is for 100 Livres, and also 1 August 1942. Complete with the Perot and Deligny signatures, it is of extremely good quality on original paper. Very fine, and extremely rare in any grade, this example is of exceptional general appearance and colour, justifying its £6,000-8,000 guide.

Among the earlier notes on offer is a printer’s archival order specimen 100 Livres, dated 1 July 1920. Printed with the serial number range G/A 10001 to G/A 25000, the latter is crossed out and rewritten G/A 20000 in pencil below. It carries the Berard and Stobert signatures, and depicts the Bank of Beyrouth Headquarters building at upper centre, with the reverse showing a landscape with mountains, city and river.

A pencil annotation in upper margin reads 12th.3.23 5,000 notes destroyed, indicating that the original print run was 25,000 notes but that only 20,000 were delivered. This choice uncirculated note is excessively rare, with only two archival specimens ever made – and it is possible that not a single issued example survives. The estimate is £6,000-8,000.

Obverse and reverse uniface specimens for the 5 Livres note, dated 15 April 1925, have the serial number 0.00 000, and the Vernes and Laferriere signatures. The reverse shows a view of the Krak des Chevaliers medieval castle. In choice uncirculated condition, this is a note that is excessively rare in any form with this first date of issue. It carries hopes of £5,000-7,000.

Surely a candidate for one of the most beautiful banknote designs ever produced for any country is that shown on the obverse uniface proof for the 500 Piastres. Undated but c.1938-39, it carries no serial numbers or signatures. A unique piece, it shows the conqueror Khalid ibn al-Walid mosque in Homs at the centre, along with a view of the surrounding Christian and Muslim cemetery, in an individual frame of thin card.

“This note is nothing short of spectacular, and destined to become the crown jewel in any collection it enters,” says Barnaby Faull, Senior Banknote Specialist at Noonans.

In choice condition and uncirculated, it has an estimate of £6,000-8,000.