Catalog
5 Livres Turques
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 180 x 118 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in blue-green on a pale ground, with an intricate geometric guilloche border framing the entire note. At the top centre, the Ottoman tughra appears within a cartouche, flanked by the numeral '5' at each corner. A central oval cartouche carries the principal Ottoman Turkish text inscription in ornate calligraphic script, beneath which the date in the Islamic Rumi calendar and the serial number appear in red. A circular seal vignette is printed to the lower centre, accompanied by a manuscript signature below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is executed entirely in blue-green, with a symmetrical guilloche framework of elaborate floral and geometric rosettes occupying the lateral panels, each bearing the numeral '5'. The central panel contains a large block of Ottoman Turkish text in calligraphic script setting out the terms and legal provisions of the note, with a manuscript signature beneath. The overall design is uncluttered, relying on the quality of the geometric lathe-work borders for its security character. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was not a bank but a European creditor body established in 1881 to manage Ottoman sovereign debt repayment directly. That it issued currency at all reflects how severely the empire's financial architecture had fractured by the First World War, with the Imperial Ottoman Bank unable to sustain adequate note supply and the government turning to whatever institutional infrastructure remained functional.
The 1916 issues circulated under extreme wartime inflation pressure. By the armistice of 1918, Ottoman paper had lost the confidence of most of the population in the Arab provinces long before it lost its legal status.