50 Kurush

The 1840 Ottoman 50 Kurush is among the earliest entries in the Pick catalog for Turkey — this is the kaime, the first paper currency the Ottoman state ever issued. Introduced under Mahmud II's successor Abdülmecid I as a borrowing instrument to cover chronic treasury deficits, it was never originally conceived as a circulating banknote at all. The kaime functioned more like a forced loan receipt, bearing interest at eight percent.

Public reception was hostile. Anatolian and Arab provinces rejected paper outright, and within years the notes were trading at steep discounts to face value. Counterfeiting emerged almost immediately, partly because early production lacked sophisticated security features — the printing was handled domestically at a time when Ottoman technical capacity for intaglio work was limited.

Surviving examples from this first emission are rare; most wore out quickly or were destroyed during subsequent currency reforms.