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1/4 Livre Turque
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Livre turque (1844-1927) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Green and dark brown note printed on thin paper, with the tughra of Sultan Mehmed V at top centre above dense Ottoman calligraphic inscriptions arranged in horizontal bands across the face. The denomination '1/4' appears in dark brown at upper left and upper right within ornate cartouches, flanked by elaborate green guilloche scrollwork forming the border and underprint. The series letter 'SÉRIE C' is printed in Latin script at left, with the serial number prefixed by 'N°' at right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is essentially unprinted, showing only a faint ghost impression of the obverse design visible through the thin paper stock, with no distinct vignette, text, or decorative elements applied to this side. |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a European-controlled financial body established in 1881 after the Empire defaulted on its foreign borrowings. That a wartime emergency currency would be issued under its authority rather than the Imperial treasury reflects the political awkwardness of Ottoman state finance in 1916: the administration nominally represented foreign creditor interests even as the Empire fought on the Central Powers side.
Small-denomination fractional notes like this quarter-livre were necessitated by acute coin shortages as metal was diverted to military use. Hoarding of metallic currency across the Levant was widespread by mid-war.