Catalog
1 Lira
| Issuer | Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Old lira (1923-2005) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Portrait of President Mustafa İsmet İnönü in three-quarter view at right, set against a rose-red guilloche underprint. The bank title is printed in a bold letterpress banner across the top, with the denomination "BİR TÜRK LİRASİ" in large letters at centre. Serial number and series letters appear twice, above and below the central vignette, flanked by corner numerals. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette presents a panoramic landscape view of the Bosphorus strait, with rocky shoreline, wooded hills and distant buildings rendered in fine intaglio engraving. The composition is framed by ornate guilloche borders with corner numerals, the bank title across the top, and the denomination legend at the base. A large plain circle at right serves as a watermark zone. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Comments |
Turkey's wartime monetary position was precarious. The country maintained formal neutrality during World War II but faced severe inflation and commodity hoarding throughout the early 1940s, forcing the central bank to issue lower denominations at higher volumes to keep daily commerce moving. The 1 Lira of 1942 belongs to that pressured period — a functional necessity, not a prestige issue.
Bradbury Wilkinson handled the printing in London despite the obvious logistical complications of wartime shipping across a continent at war. The choice reflects Turkey's long-standing reliance on British security printers, a relationship that predated the Republic itself.