SYP (Syrian Pound)

The currency abbreviation for the Syrian pound (SYP), the currency for Syria. The Syrian pound  is made up of 100 qirsch (Arabic), or piastre (English/French), although because of inflation, qirsch is no longer used. 



|||The Syrian pound was introduced in 1919 to replace the Turkish lira. This initial pound was pegged to the French franc at a rate of 20 francs to 1 pound, until 1941 when the peg changed to the British pound at a rate of 8.83125 Syrian pounds to 1 British pound.

Over the years, the peg has changed a number of times:




    
1946: 1 Syrian pound = 54.35 French francs

    
1947: 2.19148 Syrian pounds = 1 U.S. dollar 




From 1961 onward, a series of official exchange rates ran parallel to fluctuating market rates, which diverged greatly.