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5 Piastres Law of 6 August RC1332
| Issuer | Ottoman Public Debt Administration (Düyun-u Umumiye) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Value | 5 Kurush (0.05) |
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| Obverse description | The tuğra of Sultan Mehmed V is placed at the top centre above a large ornate guilloche medallion printed in olive-green, which dominates the centre of the note. The denomination '5' appears in octagonal cartouches at each corner, with '5 PIASTRES' lettered in the left and right corner cartouches in Latin script and '٥ غروش' in Arabic script. Multi-line Ottoman Turkish text in naskh calligraphy sets out the legal authorization and promise to pay, with a manuscript signature below and a circular seal at centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | دولت عليه عثمانية ٦ أغستوس ١٣٣٢ تاريخ قانونيه بناءً SÉRIE 42 5 PIASTRES ٥ غروش |
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| Comments |
The Düyun-u Umumiye — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was itself a product of national insolvency, established in 1881 to manage Ottoman debt repayment to European creditors. That a foreign-controlled fiscal body was still issuing currency notes during the First World War says something stark about the financial condition of the empire in its final years. The 1916 small-denomination emission was a direct response to a coin shortage that had grown acute as metal was diverted to military production.
The legal basis stamped on these notes — "Law of 6 August RC1332" — uses the Rumi calendar, placing it in 1916 CE. Notes of this series circulated alongside issues from the Ottoman Bank and the Finance Ministry, creating a genuinely fragmented monetary environment in wartime Anatolia and the Arab provinces.