Catalog
20 Kuruş
| Issuer | Ottoman Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by an elaborate engraved border composed of intricate foliate and geometric guilloche ornaments framing the central text panel. The Ottoman tughra appears at the top centre, with the numeral 20 repeated in each corner. Central Ottoman script legends in multiple lines state the denomination and the authority of the state issue, set against a lightly tinted paper ground. The overall design is printed in olive-green tones in a letterpress style typical of mid-19th century Ottoman kaime issues. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | يكت اكي يوز تمش شكر شنبي مارتي غايب پندر عين اق يكي تداول ايله بكت ورقه هبيه در ١٢٧٧ |
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| Comments |
The Ottoman Treasury's paper money program of the early 1860s was a direct consequence of the Crimean War debt — the empire had been issuing kaime (treasury notes) since 1840, but the financial strain of that conflict accelerated borrowing and forced repeated devaluations. By 1861, public confidence in kaime was badly eroded, and small-denomination notes like this 20 Kuruş circulated in an economy where many recipients actively discounted them against metallic coin.
The embossed seal was the primary anti-counterfeiting measure — printing technology available to the Ottoman Treasury at the time offered limited options.