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10 Livres Turques
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is arranged within a dense arabesque border of interlacing geometric and floral guilloche work in brown and olive tones. Two large six-pointed star rosettes flank the central field, which carries the Ottoman tughra at the top, the Arabic denomination inscription, and the AH date, with two green circular guilloche medallions at the lower centre bearing the numeral 10. The denomination 10 appears in large numerals at left and right within the star vignettes, and a signature line is present below the central medallions. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a large central cartouche with an ornate ogival frame enclosing several lines of Ottoman Turkish text in Arabic script setting out the legal tender provisions of the note. Two circular medallions in olive-green guilloche are placed at left and right of the cartouche, and the numeral 10 appears in large intaglio figures at the lower left and right within the surrounding arabesque border. A signature line is visible below the central text block. |
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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 Sublime Porte's catastrophic 1875 default. That a foreign creditor syndicate, not the Ottoman treasury, was issuing currency by 1915–1917 tells you everything about the empire's fiscal condition in its final years. These wartime notes were necessitated by a complete collapse of public confidence in Ottoman financing and the near-impossibility of importing quality printed currency through a wartime naval blockade.
The cotton substrate and watermark security were deliberate signals of seriousness to a skeptical public, though widespread counterfeiting remained a documented problem across the series.