Catalog
1.000 Livres Turques
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Livre turque (1844-1927) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in olive-green and brown tones on plain paper, with an elaborate guilloche border framing the central field. At the top centre, the Ottoman tughra seal is set within a cartouche, flanked by the denomination numeral '1000' in both Eastern Arabic and Western numerals at the upper corners. The central panel carries the Ottoman state title 'دولت عثمانيه' in large calligraphic script above a dark intaglio-printed arabesque cartouche bearing the main text of the note in Arabic script, with the serial number 'A2404' printed twice in the lower field alongside a manuscript signature. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | دولت عثمانيه ١٣٢٣ ١٠٠٠ A2404 LIVRES TURQUES |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was not a central bank but a foreign-controlled supervisory body established in 1881 to manage the empire's defaulted external obligations, largely on behalf of European bondholders. That it was issuing paper currency at the 1,000-livre denomination by 1917 reflects how thoroughly the empire's financial architecture had collapsed under the strain of the First World War; the regular banking apparatus simply could not keep pace with wartime monetary demand.
High-denomination notes from this period were particularly vulnerable to the severe inflation that gripped the empire in 1917–18. Many circulated briefly before losing meaningful purchasing power.