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5 Piastres
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 127 x 88 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | دولت علیّه عثمانیّه ٢٢ كانون اول ١٣٣١ SÉRIE F 5 PIASTRE ٥ غروش |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted cream stock, bearing only a faint offset impression of the obverse design visible through the thin paper, with traces of the 'SÉRIE F' designation and serial number area discernible in mirror image. No substantive design elements are present. |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was not a bank but a foreign creditor body established in 1881 to manage repayment of the empire's defaulted external debt, largely controlled by European bondholders. That it ended up issuing emergency currency in 1916 reflects how badly the Ottoman financial apparatus had fractured under wartime strain. The Imperial Treasury and the Bank-i Osmani could not keep pace with demand for small-denomination notes, so this body, never designed for monetary functions, was pressed into service.
Small-denomination wartime issues from this series circulated hard and survived poorly.