Catalog
2 1/2 Livres
| Issuer | Ottoman Public Debt Administration (Düyun-u Umumiye) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Lira (1844-1923) |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is framed by an intricate teal and cream guilloche border with ornate corner medallions. The imperial toughra of Sultan Mehmed VI occupies the upper centre within a cartouche, below which a large central ogival panel contains the Arabic-script text of the denomination and issuing authority in calligraphic style. The numeral '2½' appears in both the left and right margins, with the serial number and a circular seal printed at the lower portion of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | دولت عثمانية |
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| Comments |
The Ottoman Public Debt Administration was not a bank but a foreign creditor body — established by the 1881 Muharrem Decree to manage Ottoman state debt repayment directly to European bondholders, with its own revenue streams from tobacco, salt, silk, and spirits taxes. By 1918 the empire was near collapse, and this note is a product of that desperation: with Allied naval blockades cutting Ottoman access to its traditional French printers, the Düyun-u Umumiye turned to wartime Berlin.
Bundesdruckerei — operating under the Reichsdruckerei name at this period — handled several late Ottoman emergency issues. The arrangement was as much a product of the German military alliance as it was a logistical solution.