Catalog
½ Livre Turque
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Reference(s) | P#89 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | حكومت عثمانية SÉRIE E No298524 ١/٢ |
| Reverse description | The reverse is largely unprinted, presenting a plain cream paper surface with visible fold lines. A small violet handstamp impression appears in the upper right corner, the sole mark on an otherwise blank face. |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a nominally independent body controlled largely by European creditors, established after the empire's 1881 default. That it ended up issuing emergency currency during the First World War is one of the odder bureaucratic improvisations of the period, driven by the severe shortage of coinage and the collapse of normal financial channels under wartime conditions.
The 1916 fractional issues, including this half-livre, were printed under considerable logistical constraint. Paper quality and ink consistency vary noticeably across surviving examples of the series.