500 Lira İnönü

This note belongs to the first series issued after the death of Atatürk in November 1938, when İsmet İnönü assumed the presidency and the central bank moved quickly to introduce revised currency reflecting the new political leadership. Thomas De La Rue had held the Turkish printing contract since the early Republican period, and the relationship continued uninterrupted through the transition — a deliberate signal of institutional continuity during an uncertain moment.

The 500 Lira denomination was substantial by the purchasing standards of wartime Turkey. With the country navigating pressure from both Axis and Allied powers while maintaining a precarious neutrality, high-denomination notes circulated primarily in government and commercial transactions rather than everyday trade.