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1 Piastre
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Piastre |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Green-grey note with an overall fine guilloche lattice underprint covering the entire field. The issuer's name in Ottoman Turkish script appears in a central panel at the top, below an imperial tughra, with the date 23 Mart 1332 inscribed beneath. Two manuscript signatures appear in the lower centre, with the denomination '1 Ghirsh' rendered in large calligraphic Ottoman script within a rectangular panel at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Green-grey reverse with a central oval vignette of a Nile or Levantine riverside landscape with palm trees and figures, enclosed within an intricate guilloche border. A block of Ottoman Turkish text in multiple lines occupies the right half of the note. A serial number and series letter appear in the lower centre, printed in dark ink against the light ground. |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a European-controlled body established in 1881 to manage debt repayment to foreign creditors after the empire's 1875 default. That a debt administration office was issuing currency by 1916 reflects how severely the war had strained orthodox Ottoman financial institutions. The Sublime Porte effectively delegated small-denomination note production to whatever administrative apparatus could handle it.
The 1 Piastre denomination targeted everyday retail transactions at a moment when metallic coin had largely vanished from circulation, hoarded or melted across the empire's contracting territory.