500 Lira 40th Anniversary of FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization commemoration series produced a remarkable volume of junk silver and base-metal issues from member states throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most struck to order by outside mints and distributed more to collectors than to circulation channels. Turkey's 1985 entry marks the FAO's fortieth year — founded in Quebec City in October 1945, the organization's early mandate focused on postwar food security at a moment when European agricultural infrastructure was in ruins.

KM#979 saw limited domestic circulation uptake, consistent with most FAO-program issues of the period.