The Société Financière et Immobilière du Port de Beyrouth is an exceptional document bearing witness to Lebanon at its economic peak. In 1961, Beirut was the 'Switzerland of the Middle East', a financial, commercial and tourism center of excellence where international banks, great Arab fortunes and the region's intelligentsia coexisted. The Port of Beirut was the main transshipment port of the Levant, the pivot of trade between Europe and the Middle East. This bearer share of 160 Lebanese pounds, bearing the high number 169,876, indicates a large-scale issue reflecting investor confidence in the growth of the Lebanese economy. The 1975 civil war would shatter this momentum, devastating the port and the country's economy. This certificate is thus a poignant testimony to the prosperous Lebanon of the 1960s, before the decades of conflict that would follow.