1000 Lira Atatürk

The Turkish State's relationship with Thomas De La Rue ran deep through the early Republican period — London-printed notes were the norm while the Central Bank, founded only in 1931, was still building institutional credibility. This 1000 Lira was among the highest denominations in circulation during the late 1930s, a period when Turkey was navigating strict foreign exchange controls and a cautious wartime neutrality that would define its monetary policy for years.

P#132 is a pre-war printing, and examples that saw genuine circulation are notoriously worn at the folds — the large format and relatively thin cotton stock made this series vulnerable to heavy creasing.