The Syrian pound (sign: LS or £S; Arabic: الليرة السورية al-līra as-sūriyya, French: livre syrienne; ISO code: SYP) is the currency of Syria and is issued by the Central Bank of Syria. The pound is subdivided into 100 qirsh (Arabic: قرش plural: قروش, qorush, piastres in English or French), although coins in qirsh are no longer issued.Before 1947, the word qirsh was spelled with the initial Arabic letter غ, after which the word began with ق.