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20 Piastres Law of 22 December RC1331
| Issuer | Ottoman Empire Ministry of Finance |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Kurush (0.20) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain white reverse with no printed design elements; a vertical watermark band is visible at left of center, with faint impressions from the obverse visible through the thin paper stock. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Law of 22 December RC1331 (1915 in the Gregorian calendar) authorized emergency small-denomination paper to fill the gap left by hoarded and melted coinage — a problem that plagued the empire's internal economy from the first year of the war. Silver had largely disappeared from circulation by mid-1915, and even copper was being stockpiled. Notes like this 20 Piastres issue were a direct administrative response to that shortage, not routine monetary management.
Printed domestically under wartime conditions, the quality of paper and execution was noticeably inferior to pre-war Ottoman issues produced by European security printers. The watermark, while present, is often faint or inconsistently positioned across surviving examples.