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50 Kurush
| Issuer | Ottoman Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877-1878 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The note is enclosed within an elaborate interlaced guilloche border with ornamental corner pieces. At centre, the imperial toughra of Sultan Abdülhamid II is set within a central medallion flanked by symmetrical arabesque vignettes. Ottoman script inscriptions appear in panels above and below the central design, with the denomination repeated at left and right in Arabic numerals. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is largely plain, with a circular official seal bearing Arabic calligraphy applied near the top centre. Below it, a rectangular registration handstamp inscribed in French reads 'ENREGISTRÉ PAR LA BANQUE IMPÉRIALE OTTOMANE CONSTANTINOPLE 1877', with a serial number panel divided into two fields displaying numerals. |
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| Comments |
This note was issued during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, a conflict that drained the Ottoman treasury with exceptional speed. The government had already exhausted its borrowing capacity with European creditors, and paper kaime issues like this one were a direct fiscal response to wartime liquidity collapse — not a planned currency modernization.
The series is notoriously prone to foxing and edge fragility due to the low-quality domestic paper used under wartime supply constraints. P#52 survivors in any decent state are genuinely uncommon for that reason alone.