Lebanon 5 Qirush/Piastres 1954 "Beirut Mint" N#3007

So I was going to put together a collection of 1 coin from every modern mint (mid 20th. century forward) listed in Numista.  Did some research and came up with the above coin.  Seems this coin - according to Numista - is the only coin ever struck at the Beirut Mint.  The previous 5 Qirush/Piastres coins dated 1952 were struck at Monnaie de Paris.  The later 5 Qirush/Piastres coins dated 1955 and 1961 were also struck at M.d.P.  Why this 1954 anomaly ?

Additionally, I could not find any outside info on the “Beirut Mint”.  I'm thinking that the Beirut Mint info shown in Numista may be an error.

If anyone can provide info on where the 5 piastre 1954 coins were struck - AND/OR information on the “Beirut Mint” , I would appreciate it.

TC

My notes list [somp] as the mint identifier for N#3007 and N#5825 . That is from Schön and I won't have access to my copy for a few days to see the mint information connected to that text.

(somp) ?

Pretty sure that isn't the abbreviation for “some other mint possibly” ……….🙂

Here's another question;

IF this coin was minted in Lebanon, why have the French inscription “Republique Libanaise” ?   Lebanon became independent in 1943.

Perhaps by “Beirut Mint”, they meant the Banque du Liban, which is Lebanon's central bank. It is headquartered in Beirut, and perhaps they were minting coins for the country there. 

As to the “Republique Libanaise” inscription, Lebanon recognizes French along with Arabic as a language, so this can explain why they use the language on their coins and banknotes despite having been independent from France.

SOMP = Societe Orientale des Metaux Precieux a private company in Beirut, Lebanon.

If you had clicked on the mint link in Numista you would have found this other coin was also made there.  N#19275 and on that coin page is this:

According to Krause "Struck privately in Lebanon in 1955-1956 and released into circulation in 1956"
According to Pridmore's The Modern Coins of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of the Yemen: https://archive.org/details/seabyscoinmedalb1963base_l3a1/page/233
"The coins were ordered in 1955 from the Societé Orientale des Metaux Precioux, P.O. Box 1113, Beirut, Lebanon, and the first shipment reached Yemen, via Aden, early in 1956. Issue to the public took place in May 1956."

I believe the 1954 Lebanon 5 Piastre coin was struck at Monnaie de Paris.  I also believe there is no such entity as “Beirut Mint” .  TC

tcmusic11

I believe the 1954 Lebanon 5 Piastre coin was struck at Monnaie de Paris.  I also believe there is no such entity as “Beirut Mint” .  TC

On the SOMP homepage:

Location  105 Doumet Bldg., 7 Asseily St., Jdeideh Matn 1202, Lebanon

History:

SOMP was founded in 1950 for the electrolytic refining of precious and non-ferrous metals such as gold, silver and copper cathodes.

The refined metals were subsequently exported at over 999/1000.

In 1955, SOMP minted for the Lebanese Finance Ministry 5 piastres out of a magnesium / aluminum alloy and 10 piastres out of a 92/8 copper aluminum (Aluminum bronze) alloy.

In the early 60's due to the lack of reputable, precision industrial repair shops, SOMP decided to take the leadership role of becoming a reliable, quality-oriented, state of the art workshop to service the local and nearby industries. We became a close partner to many industrial clients.

With a systematic and steady modernization program, SOMP was able to realize its objective: Producing customized spare parts for different applications ON SHORT NOTICE and thus minimizing downtime for its industrial partners.

Schön could be wrong, of course and SOMP lying, but in the face of no evidence vs. the evidence in Schön and on SOMP I really do not believe there is any reason to change it but by all means put in a request to change it if you're sure.

Done (for the 10 Piastres coin for which I had a change request). So far there wasn't any mint for this coin. Thus, having now Beyrut, Liban is the best solution. 

But, a better solution would be to rename the mint as “SOMP, Beyrouth, Liban” to avoid any confusion with the central bank.

So ….  Are you saying the coins dated 1954 were not struck at Monnaie de Paris ?   I am aware that there was a private facility in Lebanon that minted coins.  But I still maintain there is no such entity as “Beirut Mint”.   TC

According to Numista itself, the 5 Piastres coin in Lebanon appears to have been minted in Paris in 1955. It even has the acorn privy mark indicating its origin, which is odd due to it contradicting what was stated by SOMP on their website. 

N#3006

However, the 1954 5 Piastres coin does not have the acorn privy mark, so it still could be the case that this coin was minted by SOMP. 

And that would be another contradiction if one considers S.O.M.P. did not mention any 1954 coins . TC

 PROPOSED:   How about this:    Remove the reference to Mint Beirut in the listing for the 1954 5 piastres coin.  No need to insert any reference to M.d.P.  and/or S.O.M.P.   TC

tcmusic11

I believe the 1954 Lebanon 5 Piastre coin was struck at Monnaie de Paris.  I also believe there is no such entity as “Beirut Mint” .  TC

Belief is fine, but evidence would be needed to change Numista.

tcmusic11

And that would be another contradiction if one considers S.O.M.P. did not mention any 1954 coins . TC

Please explain this remark. What communication from SOMP are you referring to?

S.O.M.P. homepage shown above

I would like to see evidence that the Beirut Mint ever existed.

Do you not understand that the “Beirut Mint” name was a mistake that was made by someone in Numista?  I've told you the correct name and it will shortly be renamed to that.

Additionally, not all M.d.P. coins struck for other countries show a mintmark.  See Lebanon 1929 10P (N#11266) , 25P (N#9660), and 50P (N#8587).

Yes, I suspect that the term Beirut Mint is an error.  So , are you assuming that S.O.M.P. struck the 1954 5 P coins ?  If so, then I suspect that would be an error as well.  TC

tcmusic11

Yes, I suspect that the term Beirut Mint is an error.  So , are you assuming that S.O.M.P. struck the 1954 5 P coins ?  If so, then I suspect that would be an error as well.  TC

I have no reason to believe Schön is wrong and no reason to believe SOMP is lying.  You have no evidence that it was minted in Paris.

I have no evidence the coins were minted in Paris.  It certainly appears to make sense, but as I mentioned above, I feel there is no need to insert M.d.P. OR S.O.M.P as a source.  

tcmusic11

I have no evidence the coins were minted in Paris.  It certainly appears to make sense, but as I mentioned above, I feel there is no need to insert M.d.P. OR S.O.M.P as a source.  

Technically I agree, there is no need to insert a mint. There is also technically no need to list the coin type in Numista at all, but we would prefer to have a more complete catalog so we list the coin type.

But we have evidence that SOMP was the creator from Schön. Schön has a history of being reliable and no contradictory evidence has been presented. And, as I said above, we would prefer to have a more complete catalog.