Pick 68 belongs to the Banque Impériale Ottomane's wartime emergency issues, forced into existence when World War I severed Ottoman access to its usual European printing suppliers — notably the London and Paris firms that had produced earlier series. Printing was brought in-house in Constantinople, a logistical compromise that shows in the comparatively rudimentary execution relative to pre-war BIO notes.
The Ottoman government suspended gold convertibility in August 1914, essentially the same week this series entered circulation. Rapid inflation followed, and these notes depreciated significantly before the war ended.
Pick 68 belongs to the Banque Impériale Ottomane's wartime emergency issues, forced into existence when World War I severed Ottoman access to its usual European printing suppliers — notably the London and Paris firms that had produced earlier series. Printing was brought in-house in Constantinople, a logistical compromise that shows in the comparatively rudimentary execution relative to pre-war BIO notes.
The Ottoman government suspended gold convertibility in August 1914, essentially the same week this series entered circulation. Rapid inflation followed, and these notes depreciated significantly before the war ended.