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1 Kuruş

Issuer Banque Impériale Ottomane
Year 1876-1878
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Value 1 Kuruş
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Obverse lettering دولت عثمانية
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Reverse lettering BANQUE I.O.
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Comments

The Banque Impériale Ottomane issued this 1 Kuruş note during the Russo-Turkish War period, when silver coin shortages drove the Ottoman government to authorize low-denomination paper as a substitute for fractional currency. A 1 Kuruş note is an unusual instrument for a central bank — the denomination sits closer to small change than to any conventional banking instrument, and its very existence reflects how badly metallic circulation had broken down by the mid-1870s.

The series is notoriously difficult to date precisely within the 1876–1878 window, as surviving specimens rarely carry unambiguous issue dates.