Turkey's wartime neutrality came at a price. The brass-heavy alloy shift across the coinage of this period reflects the near-total disruption of metals supply chains as European trade routes collapsed after 1940. Nickel brass was a pragmatic substitution, not a stylistic one.
KM#880 is modestly scarce in uncirculated condition — not because mintages were low, but because wartime Turkey had little reason to hoard small change.
Turkey's wartime neutrality came at a price. The brass-heavy alloy shift across the coinage of this period reflects the near-total disruption of metals supply chains as European trade routes collapsed after 1940. Nickel brass was a pragmatic substitution, not a stylistic one.
KM#880 is modestly scarce in uncirculated condition — not because mintages were low, but because wartime Turkey had little reason to hoard small change.