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20 Piastres
| Issuer | Dette Publique Ottomane |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Reference(s) | P#80 |
| Obverse description | Printed in purple-violet on white paper, the obverse is dominated by an elaborate oval guilloche frame enclosing a dense foliate arabesque underprint across the entire field, with the Imperial Ottoman tughra positioned at top center flanked by two cartouches bearing the denomination in Latin script at upper left and Arabic numerals at upper right. Multi-line bold calligraphic Arabic text occupies the central register, identifying the issuing authority. Series designation 'SÉRIE B' appears at lower left with a serial number at lower right, and two handwritten signature lines cross the lower portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | دولت علیه عثمانیه SÉRIE B 20 PIASTRES ٢٠ غروش |
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| Comments |
The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a European-controlled body established in 1881 after the Sublime Porte defaulted on its foreign obligations. That a debt-management institution was issuing emergency currency by 1916 reflects how severely the First World War had strained Ottoman financial infrastructure. The Imperial Treasury could not meet wartime demand alone, and ancillary authorities were pressed into service.
Wartime paper shortages and compressed production schedules affected the quality and consistency of this series noticeably — specialists report significant variation in ink saturation across surviving examples.