½ Livre Turque

The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a peculiar institution: an international creditor body staffed largely by European appointees, managing Ottoman state finances on behalf of foreign bondholders since 1881. By 1915, with the empire at war and the regular banking apparatus under severe strain, it was pressed into issuing emergency paper currency. That a debt-collection agency became a note-issuing authority tells you most of what you need to know about the Ottoman financial situation that year.

The half-livre denomination was the smallest in this wartime series. Cotton paper was a deliberate choice — linen-cotton stock resisted the accelerated wear that came with high-velocity street circulation during the war years.