Catalog
50 Kuruş
| Issuer | Ottoman Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in brown and cream tones on plain paper, with an elaborate scrollwork and arabesque border framing the entire face. The tughra of Sultan Abdülmecid I appears at the top centre, above several lines of Ottoman Turkish calligraphic text in naskh script arranged in a central panel with a fine guilloche underprint. A circular Ottoman seal is printed at the lower centre, flanked by ornamental floral scroll motifs at the corners, with small denomination numerals visible at each side margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in olive-brown on a pale ground bearing a faint arabesque underprint. The central design consists of a large wreath of laurel branches tied with a ribbon at the base, enclosing several lines of Ottoman Turkish calligraphic text in naskh script including the AH date 1277. A small circular Ottoman tughra seal is positioned below the wreath at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
This 1861 issue belongs to the earliest phase of Ottoman paper money — the kaime, introduced in 1840 as a wartime fiscal expedient and never fully trusted by the population. The Ottoman Treasury, not the imperial bank, remained the issuer for these fractional denominations well into the 1860s, partly because the newly chartered Bank-ı Osmanî had no mandate to issue currency at this stage.
Small kaime denominations like this 50 Kuruş circulated at a persistent discount to face value throughout their existence. Provincial merchants frequently refused them outright.