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500 Livres
| Issuer | Ottoman Public Debt Administration (Düyun-u Umumiye) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The Ottoman tughra appears at upper centre within an ornate guilloche border framing the entire note. The denomination '500' is repeated in the four corners alongside intricate floral arabesque vignettes, with a central cartouche containing Ottoman script text and the date. Two circular underprint rosettes flank the lower portion, with the serial number printed in black at lower left and lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a reddish-brown tone, with a large central text panel in Ottoman script containing the note's legal tender and redemption obligations, surrounded by a dense guilloche border with corner arabesque medallions. Two circular rosette vignettes appear at the left and right margins, and the denomination '500' is printed in large numerals at lower centre. Handwritten signatures and official stamps appear across the central text field. |
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| Comments |
The Ottoman Public Debt Administration was not a bank — it was a foreign creditor body established in 1881 to manage repayment of the empire's defaulted external debt, staffed largely by European bondholders' representatives. That it began issuing emergency paper currency in 1916 reflects how completely the empire's financial infrastructure had collapsed under wartime strain, with the Imperial Treasury unable to meet even basic liquidity demands without ceding the function to this quasi-sovereign foreign-controlled agency.
The 500 Livres denomination was the highest in the P#114 series, almost certainly too large for ordinary retail use and likely intended for inter-institutional settlements. High-denomination wartime issues of this type were frequently cancelled or destroyed before the armistice ended their relevance.