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20 Piastres Law of 4 February RC1332
| Issuer | Ottoman Public Debt Administration (Düyun-u Umumiye) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The tughra of Sultan Mehmed V is centred at the top within an ornate cartouche, with the denomination '20' in Western numerals set within decorative oval frames at upper left and right. The face is printed in brown on cream paper with horizontal bands of Arabic script — including the law date RC1332 — laid over a fine guilloche underprint, with a central ornamental rosette in the lower field. Series letter and serial number appear in Latin characters below the rosette. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is entirely unprinted, presenting a plain cream paper surface devoid of any design, text, or decorative elements, consistent with the emergency low-denomination fractional issues produced by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. |
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| Comments |
The Düyun-u Umumiye — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was technically a foreign creditor body managing Ottoman revenues to repay European bondholders, not a sovereign monetary authority. That it issued circulating currency during World War One reflects how completely the Ottoman financial system had broken down by 1916. The empire's treasury was too depleted to meet even basic note-issuing functions, so this semi-external agency stepped in to fill the void.
The "Law of 4 February RC1332" inscription uses the Rumi calendar, an Ottoman fiscal calendar running roughly 584 years behind the Gregorian. RC1332 corresponds to 1916 CE.