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500 Kuruş Gold Bullion Coinage
| Issuer | Turkish State Mint (Darphane) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943-1948 |
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| Currency | Old lira (1923-2005) |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed left-facing effigy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk occupying the central field, rendered in high relief with fine detail to the hair and facial features. The portrait is encircled by a ring of twenty-three six-pointed stars. The entire design is framed by an elaborate acanthus-scroll and floral arabesque border in high relief, filling the outer field to the milled edge. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | TÜRKİYE CUMHURİYETİ 500 KURUŞ |
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| Additional information |
Turkey's gold bullion coinage of this period was born directly out of wartime neutrality, not economic planning. Ankara walked a careful line between the Axis and the Allies throughout the Second World War, and the government's decision to accumulate and re-strike gold in standardized domestic formats was partly a hedge against the currency instability that had consumed neighboring economies. The Varlık Vergisi — the notorious capital levy of 1942 — had already forced significant private gold holdings into state hands through punitive taxation targeting non-Muslim minorities disproportionately.
The .917 fineness follows the longstanding Ottoman standard, maintained deliberately to preserve continuity with pre-Republican bullion users in Anatolian trade networks.