Catalog
50 Livres
| Issuer | Imperial Ottoman Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Currency | Lira (1844-1923) |
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| Obverse description | The Imperial tughra appears within a circular medallion at upper centre, flanked by ornate guilloche panels and geometric underprint work in olive and grey tones. The denomination numeral '50' is printed in large bold type at left and right, with multi-line Arabic calligraphic inscriptions occupying the central field. A circular 'LIVRES TURQUES' seal appears at lower left, with a manuscript signature below the central text block. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | دولت علية عثمانية |
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| Comments |
The Imperial Ottoman Bank — nominally a Franco-British joint venture headquartered in Constantinople — continued issuing currency well into the First World War despite the Ottoman Empire being at war with both France and Britain. The 1916 series, of which this 50 Livres is part, was issued under wartime financial pressure, with the bank increasingly subordinated to the needs of the Committee of Union and Progress government.
Wartime inflation hit Ottoman paper hard. By 1918 the lira had lost the majority of its pre-war value, and much of this series was redeemed or destroyed following the Armistice. High-denomination survivor notes from 1916 are correspondingly scarcer than their lower-value counterparts from the same run.