الجمهورية اللبنانية
(Republic of Lebanon)
مصرف لبنان
(Banque du Liban / Bank of Lebanon)
Currency - Livres/Pound (LBP)
This is a 1000 livres banknote first introduced in 2011, and no new reprints have been reported since the last print in 2016. Due to the current financial liquidity crises experienced by Lebanon since August 2019, it is not sure if the government is planning to continue printing this low denomination of banknote going forward or simply introduce a new denomination like the 2000 livres instead.
Since 2011, this denomination of banknote has been printed four times with the year dates of 2011, 2012 and 2016 x 2. The reason I have posted this odd note here is that in 2016, there were two versions of this note issued. One is the usual cotton based paper note and the other one is a Hybrid note. To be able to tell the difference between these two is to look at the serial no of the notes. The Hybrid version of this note is printed with the prefix of K228 only, and I am not sure if this is also the last prefix for the 2016 series. It is not sure why they have only printed the Hybrid note with just one prefix either, but one can only guess that this could be just an experiential trial run, just like the Sudan one pound note nd2006 (issued in 2010). Judging by the serial nos, it would be fair to say that only 1.0 million pieces issued. Obviously, the purpose of this exercise was to see if the Hybrid material added to the note would prolong the life cycle of this note. I am sure the central bank would have monitored this experiment and only they can tell us if this experience was successfully. Based on similar Hybrid banknotes issued by other central banks around the world, I would say that this experiment was not a successful one, as subsequent issues were reverted back to either cotton based paper or even in polymer material. Nothing can beat polymer substrate notes.
I am not a big fan of the Lebanese currency but given the current financial crises it is experiencing, suddenly you can buy them, especially those new and current issues at a discounted price. The crises had impacted the currency value on international stage tremendously and has lost almost 90% of its value since the late 2019. One should also feel sorry for the ordinary citizens in the country finding their buying power almost disappeared in such a short period of time. Looking back, Lebanon was once the financial center of the Middle East region until the early 1970s. Since the civil war started in the mid 1975s, the whole country just went pear sharped.
Signatures (L-R)
First Vice Governor - Raed H Charafeddine (tenure 2009-2019)
Governor - Riad Toufic Salameh (since 1993)
Dimensions - 115mm x 60mm
I have posted the three notes here all dated 2016. One is printed on paper, one on Hybrid material; and one with miscut for comparison purposes.
One Thousand Livres (Normal)
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| Dated 2016, normal note |
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| Reverse |
One Thousand Livres (Miscut)
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| Dated 2016, miscut (shifted to the left) |
I have a question mark (?) for this co called miscut note. I do not have information to confirm this is a genuine error note. For all I know, it could have been done on an uncut sheet, which I usually called 'Home Made Error'. There are many reasons for me to question this. The main purpose is for financial gain. Imagine a face value of this note which is worth just over $0.50+ and yet you can sell this for and perhaps more than $10 each. Just imagine the profit margin in doing this. Creativity is one thing, dishonesty is another. The 'error' is about 5mm shifted sideways. My advice is not to go for such note unless you are 100% positive about such error. The other possible reason I can think of is that this 'error' is created on a nominal value of note. It is cheap, the lowest denomination, and if it didn't work, you can always put it back into circulations. Remember that this is only my opinion, and I have no confirmation to confirm this is a genuine error note or a fake one. People are very creative nowadays. Any opportunity to make a good profit.
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| Reverse |
One Thousand Livers (Hybrid)
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| Hybrid note |
There is nothing much to talk about the design of this note. On both sides of the note, they are dominated by the large denomination value of 1000 (١٠٠٠ in Arabic on the front) and back. There are ancient Lebanese symbols and Arabic text printed on the background. The famous Lebanese national Cedar trees are also printed on both sides of the note but no image of the flag. On the back, letters and symbols are also printed but this time, it is in a circular format. The note is predominately green and there is a square shape area whether the watermark is. On the watermark area, you can see the image of the Cedar tree and the value in Arabic. As per all previous notes issued, on the front all texts are in Arabic and with the French writings on the back. The prefix for this series first started with the fraction format, like K over 01 (K/01). Judging by the prefix sighted, I would say that this series is printed with the letter alphabet K over two numerals for the 2011 and 2012 prints and then followed by a 6-digit serial numbers. This format then changed for the 2016 reprints with the letter K and followed by another 2 or 3 digits as the banknote prefix. The serial numbers are also printed in the Arabic writing as well. I can not be sure if the prefix should be 2 or 3 digits after the letter K. The prefix for this Hybrid note is K228 (or K22) and followed by a serial number of 6 or 7 digits. This is the only prefix that is identified as Hybrid. Depending on which format of prefix you believe in, one can only assume that a minimum of one million pieces were printed for the Hybrid note.
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| Hybrid note, Prefix K228 only |
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