100 Kuruş

The 1877–1878 dating places this note squarely within the Russo-Ottoman War, when the empire's finances were under acute pressure and the Banque Impériale Ottomane — a Franco-British joint venture, not an Ottoman state institution — was effectively managing a collapsing treasury. Kaime paper money had already destroyed public confidence in Ottoman currency once; these notes circulated in a climate of deep distrust.

The handstamp security measure was not a refinement but a necessity: counterfeiting of Ottoman paper issues was rampant throughout the 1870s. Individual branch validation by stamp was one of the few controls the bank could reliably enforce.