Catalog
1000 Kurush
| Issuer | Hazine-i Amire (Ottoman Imperial Treasury) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1840 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Kuruş (1688-1844) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by two circular impressed seals in relief: the tughra of Sultan Abdülmecid I at upper centre and the seal of Saib Pasha at lower centre. Between the seals, handwritten Ottoman script inscriptions record the denomination and issue details, with additional calligraphic text running across the upper portion of the note. The composition is spare, relying entirely on manuscript and seal elements without printed vignettes or ornamental borders, consistent with the earliest Ottoman paper currency issue of 1840. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Multiple hand-applied impressed official seals serving as authentication devices, including the imperial tughra seal and ministerial seals |
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| Comments |
The 1840 Ottoman paper money issue — kaime-i mutebere-i nakdiye — was introduced under Sultan Mahmud II as an emergency fiscal measure to fund the military after the disastrous war with Egypt's Muhammad Ali. These were not banknotes in any conventional sense: they bore no serial numbers, were handwritten in part, and paid interest at eight percent, functioning more like short-term treasury bonds forced into circulation than currency proper.
The public received them with deep suspicion, and counterfeiting was a problem almost immediately. The absence of mechanical printing and standardized security made the series acutely vulnerable from the start.