500 Lira

By the early 1980s, Turkey was operating under military-installed government following the September 1980 coup, and chronic inflation was already eroding the lira at a pace that would eventually require a six-zero redenomination in 2005. The 500 Lira denomination, meaningful at issue, was losing purchasing power faster than the notes could wear out in circulation.

Printed in-house at the Merkez Bankası's own Ankara facility, which has produced Turkish banknotes since the mid-1950s. The watermark remains the sole mechanical security feature on this type — modest protection even by the standards of the period.