5 New Lira

The 2005 series marked a genuine rupture in Turkish monetary history. The New Lira — Yeni Türk Lirası — was introduced on 1 January 2005 after the old lira had accumulated six zeros through decades of chronic inflation, peaking at an annual rate above 70% in the early 2000s. One New Lira equaled one million old lira. The redenomination was less a technical exercise than a public acknowledgment that the old currency had become psychologically untenable.

The "New" designation was always intended as temporary — the word "Yeni" was officially dropped in 2009 when the transitional period ended.