Catalog
500 Mils
| Issuer | Central Bank of Cyprus |
|---|---|
| Year | 1964-1979 |
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| Size | 140 × 83 mm |
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| Obverse description | Printed in green on a multicoloured guilloche underprint, the obverse carries the Cypriot state arms — a dove above a map of the island, dated 1960 — within an ornate scalloped vignette at right, flanked by a large intaglio rosette medallion at left. The bank title appears in Greek (ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΚΥΠΡΟΥ) and Turkish (KIBRIS MERKEZ BANKASI) across the upper centre, with the denomination rendered bilingually as ΠΕΝΤΑΚΟΣΙΑ ΜΙΛΣ and BEŞ YÜZ MIL in the central field. The issue date and serial number appear twice, with a single Governor's manuscript signature at lower left above the bilingual title ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ – MÜDÜR. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Central Bank of Cyprus Five Hundred Mils |
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| Comments |
Cyprus metricated its currency at independence, retaining the pound but subdividing it into 1000 mils rather than adopting the more familiar cent-based system. The mil denomination structure was a deliberate administrative holdover from the British colonial period, and this note circulated across both communities on the island until the 1974 partition effectively split monetary systems in practice, even if not immediately in law.
Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden facility printed security documents for dozens of newly independent states during this period — Cyprus was one of several former British territories that contracted the firm for its first sovereign issues. The 1979 withdrawal of the series coincided with a broader redenomination push that eventually retired the mil system entirely by 1983.