10 Kuruş

The Hazine-i Celile notes of 1853–54 were a direct consequence of the Crimean War financing crisis. The Ottoman government, unable to service its debts or fund the war through conventional means, issued treasury notes — kaime — as a forced-circulation paper currency backed by little more than administrative authority. These small-denomination issues were intended to reach everyday transactions, but public distrust of Ottoman paper money ran deep, dating to the kaime inflations of the 1840s.

The embossed seal and watermark were genuine attempts to curb what had become a serious counterfeiting problem with earlier kaime issues. Whether those measures worked is another question — contemporary European diplomatic correspondence noted that forged kaime circulated openly in Constantinople's bazaars throughout the war years.