Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Kurush
| Issuer | Ottoman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#22 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in pale grey-blue with a light arabesque and scrollwork underprint filling the entire field within a ruled border with star corner ornaments. At the upper centre, a large oval with a handwritten Ottoman tughra or authorization is affixed, and in the centre of the note two wax or ink official seals of differing sizes are applied, both bearing circular Arabic inscriptions. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Official seal, Handwritten authorization |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The 1852 20 Kurush belongs to the Kaime series — paper money introduced by the Ottoman treasury in 1840 as a desperate measure to finance the costs of military modernization under the Tanzimat reforms. The public never trusted them. Kaime notes circulated at persistent discounts against coin, sometimes losing 30–40% of face value on the open market, and the government's repeated emissions without adequate backing only deepened that distrust over the following decades.
Handwritten authorization signatures on individual notes were the primary anti-counterfeiting control — a system that also made production slow and each note technically unique. Examples with legible, complete authorization scripts command closer attention from specialists.