Catalog
10 Livres Turques
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#101 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a large central cartouche with an ornate ogival frame enclosing several lines of Ottoman Turkish text in Arabic script setting out the legal tender provisions of the note. Two circular medallions in olive-green guilloche are placed at left and right of the cartouche, and the numeral 10 appears in large intaglio figures at the lower left and right within the surrounding arabesque border. A signature line is visible below the central text block. |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Watermarked paper with a pattern visible when held to light. |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a European-controlled financial body established in 1881 after the Sublime Porte's catastrophic 1875 default. That a foreign creditor syndicate, not the Ottoman treasury, was issuing currency by 1915–1917 tells you everything about the empire's fiscal condition in its final years. These wartime notes were necessitated by a complete collapse of public confidence in Ottoman financing and the near-impossibility of importing quality printed currency through a wartime naval blockade.
The cotton substrate and watermark security were deliberate signals of seriousness to a skeptical public, though widespread counterfeiting remained a documented problem across the series.