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50 Kurush Second 'Kaime' issue
| Issuer | Ottoman Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1876-1877 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Kurush (0.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed on white paper with a lightly embossed overall arabesque and scrollwork pattern forming an intricate underprint across the entire surface. A circular black-printed vignette at the top centre contains the imperial seal with Ottoman script. The lower half bears a red rectangular registration stamp of the Banque Impériale Ottomane, Constantinople, dated 1877, with manuscript serial numerals; a small Ottoman-script calligraphic inscription appears at the bottom centre. |
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| Protection type | Embossed paper, Registration stamp |
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| Comments |
The kaime had a troubled history long before this issue. Earlier Ottoman paper money had been so massively over-issued and so poorly redeemed through the mid-nineteenth century that public trust in it had essentially collapsed. This 1876–77 emission came during the reign of Abdülhamid II, at a moment of acute fiscal strain — the Ottoman state had defaulted on its external debt in October 1875, and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 was either imminent or already underway depending on when a specific note was signed.
The embossed paper and registration stamp were the primary barriers against forgery on a note produced domestically with limited technical resources. Neither feature was sophisticated by European standards of the period.