Lebanon 1955 10 piastres KM-23
This specimen was lot 45265 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $100. The catalog description[1] noted, "LEBANON. 10 Piastres, 1955. Paris Mint. PCGS MS-66+ Gold Shield. Richly toned and intensely lustrous, this coin is a near match in look and eye appeal to the 1955 5 Piastres in this collection and is the sole finest graded at PCGS. The Cedars Collection of Lebanese Coinage, 1924-1961." This specimen was issued by Lebanon as a regular issue in 1955 only. The Paris mint also struck a ten piastres (KM 22) in 1955 of the same module but a different design. Similar types were issued in other metals up to 1975. In 1980, war broke out between Christian and Muslim militias and soon the Israeli and Syrian armies were occupying various parts of that unhappy land. The cedar is the symbol of Lebanon, once forested with this handsome tree.
Recorded mintage: 6,000,000.
Specification: aluminum bronze, 21.8 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-23.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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