Catalog
25 Livres Turques
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by an elaborate geometric and floral arabesque framework in brown and green tones, enclosing a central arch with multi-line Ottoman calligraphic inscriptions. A tughra device appears at the top centre within a decorative cartouche, flanked by ornate guilloche corner medallions. The denomination numeral '25' appears in both the upper-left and lower-right corners, with two matching serial number panels in red printed side by side across the lower central field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | دیون عمومیه عثمانیه |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was an extraordinary institution: a European-controlled financial body established in 1881 to manage repayment of the empire's defaulted sovereign debt, effectively running certain Ottoman revenue streams from within Constantinople. By 1918 it was issuing emergency currency as the empire collapsed around it, the treasury gutted by four years of war and the collapse of the earlier kaime issues.
Pick 111 belongs to a late wartime series printed under acute material and logistical pressure. The cotton substrate was a deliberate quality choice at a moment when paper supplies were unreliable, though surviving examples frequently show foxing along the edges — a known characteristic of this series rather than individual mishandling.