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20 Kurush
| Issuer | Ottoman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1876 |
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| Value | 20 Kurush |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is largely plain with an applied circular wax or ink seal bearing Arabic calligraphy at centre, accompanied by handwritten Ottoman script annotations. A rectangular registration stamp of the Banque Impériale Ottomane, Constantinople, dated 1876, is affixed at lower centre, enclosing a serial number. |
| Reverse lettering | Enregistré Par la BANQUE IMPERIALE OTTOMANE CONSTANTINOPLE 1876 |
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| Comments |
This note belongs to the kaime series issued under Sultan Abdülhamid II, who had just come to power amid a severe fiscal crisis — the Ottoman government had declared partial bankruptcy on its foreign debt in October 1875, just months before these notes entered circulation. The empire's creditors were receiving fifty cents on the dollar while domestic paper currency continued to be pressed into service out of necessity rather than confidence.
The kaime had a troubled history going back decades, repeatedly inflated and reissued, and public trust in Ottoman paper was essentially exhausted by this point. Survival rates for circulated examples are poor — the paper quality of the 1876 issues was inconsistent, and heavy use compounded the damage.