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50.000 Livres Turques
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 178 x 118 mm |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is composed entirely in Ottoman Turkish script within an elaborate multi-layered guilloche border with ornamental rosettes at each corner bearing the French inscription "LIVRES TURQUES". At the top centre, a tughra cartouche is set within intricate geometric latticework. The central panel carries calligraphic Arabic inscriptions on a fine guilloche underprint, with the denomination numeral 50000 printed in black at left and right, and two serial number fields marked "No 00" flanking a central oval seal. A further inscription band runs along the lower portion of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in rose-pink tones on a fine geometric guilloche ground. A central rectangular panel carries multiple lines of Ottoman Turkish calligraphic text setting out the legal terms and conditions of the note. The denomination numeral 50000 appears both at top centre in Arabic-script numerals and at bottom centre in Western numerals, with small oval cartouches bearing additional script at the upper corners, and the French legend "LIVRES TURQUES" repeated in the side borders. |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a semi-autonomous body established by the Muharrem Decree of 1881, effectively ceding control of key Ottoman revenues to European creditors. That it was still issuing paper currency during the First World War reflects the extraordinary fiscal deterioration of the empire by 1916, when conventional banking infrastructure had largely collapsed and the government was scraping for any workable instrument of exchange.
The 50,000 Livres denomination is among the highest in the wartime DPO series, pointing directly to the severe inflation grinding through the Ottoman economy in the final years of the war. Notes of this value were instruments of desperation, not confidence.