Ottoman lira

Ottoman lira
ليرا
5 lira (500 kuruş) coin
Central bank	Ottoman Bank
Official user(s)	Ottoman Empire
Unofficial user(s)	Turkey (until the Turkish lira started circulating)
Subunit
¹⁄₅	mecidiye or medjidiye (colloquially)
¹⁄₁₀₀	kuruş
¹⁄₄₀₀₀	para
Symbol	£
Coins	1, 5, 10, 20 para, ¹⁄₂, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 kuruş, ¹⁄₄, ¹⁄₂, 1, 2 ¹⁄₂, 5 lira
Banknotes	1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 50 kuruş, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000 lira
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The Ottoman lira was the currency of Ottoman Empire between 1844 and 29 October 1923 . It replaced the kuruş as the principal unit of currency, with the kuruş continuing to circulate as a subdivision of the lira, with 100 kuruş = 1 lira. The para also continued to be used, with 40 para = 1 kuruş. Until the 1930s, the Arabic script was used on Turkish coins and banknotes, with پاره for para, غروش for kuruş and ليرا for lira (تورك ليراسي for "Turkish lira"). In European languages, the kuruş was known as the piastre, whilst the lira was known as the livre in French.

Between 1844 and 1881, the lira was on a bimetallic standard, with 1 lira = 6.61519 grams pure gold = 99.8292 grams pure silver. In 1881, the gold standard was adopted and continued until 1914. World War I saw Turkey effectively depart from the gold standard with the gold lira being worth about nine lira in paper money by the early 1920s.

Between 1844 and 1855, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 para, ¹⁄₂, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 kuruş and ¹⁄₄, ¹⁄₂, 1, 2 ¹⁄₂ and 5 lira. The para denominations were struck in copper, the kuruş in silver and the lira in gold. The 1 para was discontinued in 1859, with the higher copper denominations ceasing production between 1863 and 1879. In 1899, billon 5 and 10 para were introduced, followed by nickel 5, 10, 20 and 40 kuruş in 1910. Gold coins continued to be minted after the abolition of the gold standard, even into the 1920s, but their value far exceeded the value of the equivalent denominations in paper currency.

100 lira banknote

The central Ottoman Bank first issued paper currency Kaime in 1862, in the denomination of 200 kuruş. The notes bore texts in Turkish and French. Notes for 1, 2 and 5 lira were introduced in 1873. In 1876, smaller denomination notes were introduced for 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 kuruş. In 1908, 50 and 100 lira notes were introduced.

From 1912, the Ministry of Finance issued paper money. Initially, notes were produced in denominations of 5 and 20 kuruş, ¹⁄₄, ¹⁄₂, 1 and 5 lira, followed the next year by 1 and 2 ¹⁄₂ kuruş, 2 ¹⁄₂, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 lira. 1000 lira notes were introduced in 1914. In 1917, postage stamp money was issued in the form of 5 and 10 para stamps affixed to card.

Currencies named pound or similar

Current	Pound sterling: (Alderney pound • Falkland Islands pound • Gibraltar pound • Guernsey pound • Jersey pound • Manx pound • Saint Helena pound) Egyptian pound Lebanese pound South Sudanese pound Sudanese pound Syrian pound Turkish lira

Local alternative currency	Bristol Pound Brixton Pound Lewes Pound Stroud Pound Totnes Pound

Defunct	Anglo-Saxon pound Australian pound Bahamian pound Bermudian pound Biafran pound British West African pound Canadian pound Connecticut pound Cypriot pound Delaware pound Fijian pound French livre French colonial livre Gambian pound Georgia pound Ghanaian pound Haitian livre Irish pound Israeli pound Italian lira Jamaican pound Japanese government-issued Oceanian Pound Libyan pound Livre tournois Lombardo-Venetian pound Luccan pound Malawian pound Maltese pound Maltese lira Maryland pound Massachusetts pound New Brunswick pound New France livre New Guinean pound New Hampshire pound New Jersey pound New York pound New Zealand pound Newfoundland pound Nigerian pound North Carolina pound Nova Scotian pound Oceanian pound Ottoman lira Palestine pound Papal lira Paris livre Parman lira Pennsylvania pound Pound Scots Prince Edward Island pound Rhode Island pound Rhodesian pound Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound Sammarinese lira Sardinian lira Solomon Islands pound South Carolina pound Southern Rhodesian pound South African pound South African Republic pound South West African pound Tongan pound Tuscan pound Vatican lira Virginia pound West Indian pound Western Samoan pound Zambian pound

See also	Dinar Pound sign Troy pound

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