Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Medjidiés d'Or
| Issuer | Banque Impériale Ottomane (Devlet-i Aliye-i Osmanye Bankasi) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1863 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Green-toned note with a central block of Ottoman Turkish text in Arabic script, framed within an intricate guilloche border. Serial number appears twice in the upper corners as 'No 000433', with a black circular seal affixed below the central text block. The left margin carries the denomination inscription 'MEDJIDIES D'OR 2 MEDJIDIES D'OR' in letterpress, while the lower margin reads 'Remboursable à CONSTANTINOPLE' and 'BANQUE IMPERIALE OTTOMANE' in Roman script. A large blue cancellation overprint reading 'NULÉ ANNULÉ' is applied diagonally across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Note cancelled by punch-hole perforation visible across the note, combined with an overprinted cancellation stamp reading 'NULÉ ANNULÉ'. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Banque Impériale Ottomane was established by Imperial Firman in February 1863 — a joint Anglo-French venture granted the exclusive right to issue banknotes throughout the Ottoman Empire. This note, denominated in medjidiés d'or, belongs to the bank's earliest emission, issued the same year the bank opened its Constantinople branch. The medjidié d'or was a gold-standard unit tied to the Ottoman gold coinage of Abdülmecid I, an attempt to anchor paper currency to something the bazaar-trading public might actually trust.
The cancellation perforation tells the real story: this example was officially retired, punched through during redemption or administrative withdrawal rather than surviving through circulation.