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5 Para
| Issuer | Ottoman Ministry of Finance |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Para |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in reddish-brown on cream paper in a perforated stamp-format note, the obverse carries a central oval vignette of two Ottoman soldiers in the field, with an artillery wheel visible to the left, framed within an ornate border of floral arabesques. An Ottoman Turkish inscription in Arabic script occupies the upper panel, while the lower portion bears the tughra seal and the numeral "5" flanked by the denomination in Arabic script. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is entirely unprinted, presenting a plain cream paper surface devoid of any design, text, or ornamentation, characteristic of the emergency low-denomination postage-currency issues produced by the Ottoman Ministry of Finance during the latter stages of the First World War. |
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| Comments |
The Ottoman 5 Para of 1917 is among the smallest-denomination paper money ever issued by a major empire in the modern period — a direct consequence of catastrophic coin shortages during the First World War. Bronze and nickel had been commandeered for military use, leaving the Treasury no practical option but to print fractional currency at sub-piastre denominations that would normally have been handled entirely in metal.
The Ministry of Finance series to which Pick 116 belongs was printed domestically, not abroad — a significant departure from earlier Ottoman paper issues that had relied on European printers. By 1917, the British naval blockade had made foreign contracts nearly impossible to fulfill.