500 Livres Turques

The Dette Publique Ottomane — the Ottoman Public Debt Administration — was a European-controlled body established after the 1881 Muharrem Decree, which handed management of Ottoman state finances to foreign creditors following serial debt defaults. That a wartime 500 Livres note was issued under its authority rather than through the Banque Impériale Ottomane reflects the fractured, improvised character of Ottoman monetary administration during the First World War, when the empire was simultaneously fighting on multiple fronts and hemorrhaging gold reserves.

High-denomination notes of this issue are rarely found without folds — 500 Livres was a substantial sum in 1916, and these moved through official channels rather than everyday trade.