History of Turkish Banknotes

[Bimat]

Revisiting the 84-year story of Turkish currency

23 October 2011, Sunday / TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

Historic records indicate the first paper currency was introduced by the Chinese in A.D. 806; however, when it comes to the history of the Republic of Turkey, the first paper currency was first used only 84 years ago.
 
In the West, the initial examples of paper currency coincide with the end of the 17th century. The Massachusetts Bay Colony printed its first paper currency in the United States in the 1690s, while the Goldsmith bankers first used it in England around the same time. The use of paper currency became widespread in the world with the establishment of the British Central Bank, which began printing money in 1684.

The first examples of Turkish paper money were seen in 1927 and featured writing in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. By the second printing, in 1937, the Latin alphabet was already in use. The money was printed in denominations of 1, 2 ½, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 lira. Metal coins were also in circulation, with 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 kuruş in circulation in 1937, and a 1 lira silver coin. Between 1937 and 1938, newly issued bills of 5, 10, 50 and 100 lira carrying the portrait of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, were taken out of circulation following his death in 1938 and replaced with the portrait of the man who succeeded him as the second president of the republic, İsmet İnönü. Placing İnönü on the bills, however, led to controversy at the time.

In 1939, the country wanted to print bills carrying the value of 50 kuruş and 1 lira. It ordered their printing in England, but this was delayed due to the outbreak of World War II. In 1940, two ships carrying the money were involved in an accident and sank in the Port of Piraeus in Greece. The money was removed from circulation as it had passed into Greek hands.

An interesting incident took place in 1946 when the Turkish government found out that the German printer who prepared the asked for A, B, C and D series of the 100 lira bill in 1942 also printed the E, F, G, H and J series for circulation as well. After the incident, the printing rights were revoked for the German company and given to the American Banknote Company. In the early 1950s, Atatürk's portrait reappeared on the banknotes with the fifth issuance as a reflection in the change of the ruling party. Also, the idea of printing the money in the country gained currency due to the development of industry in the country. In 1958, the notes were printed in Turkey for the first time by the Banknote Print Company in Ankara. Technicians from Austria, Germany and Sweden worked at this company with special permission from the Turkish Parliament.

The sixth emission went into circulation in 1966. The economy worsened during the 1970s due to a global oil crisis and an embargo imposed on Turkey over its intervention in Cyprus in 1974. During this time, the 1,000 lira banknotes became legendary as they were only seen by a few people.

In 1979, the seventh emission went into circulation, and banknotes containing many zeros -- 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 250,000 and 500,000 -- were quite common. The coin for 1 million lira became a banknote in 1995 and towards the end of the 1990s banknotes for 5, 10 and 20 million lira were also put into circulation.

As Turkey approached the new millennium, the Turkish lira were in their millions. In order to get rid of the confusion caused by so many zeros, the government undertook the initiative to take out all those zeros from the Turkish lira in 2000. With this aim in mind, Law No. 5083 was enacted on the unit of money in the Republic in Turkey in 2004.

The removal of zeros introduced the eighth emission of money into the circulation, renamed the new Turkish lira (YTL) and available in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 YTL. In order for the public to adapt to the new money, the graphical design of the banknotes was made similar to those of the seventh emission. The change in the unit was seen as a national symbol of the determination to move towards a stabilizing economy.

Law No. 5083 permitted the removal of the word "new" from the banknotes, bringing to completion the second stage of this move. As of 2009, the ninth emission was put into circulation with a newer design and security features as well as modified sizes. The emission included banknotes for 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lira. Furthermore, the 200 lira banknote made a debut at this time.

The history of money carries traces of social and economic characteristics of the society. In this context, the pictures featured on Turkish banknotes reflect important signs regarding the period they were printed in. The first emission featured pictures of Atatürk, a gray wolf (a symbol of Turkish nationalism), the first Parliament building and a portrait of a Turkish farmer, referring to Atatürk's saying in which he praises the villagers, who sacrificed the most during the country's War of Independence, and a picture of railroads, as their building was the most important undertaking of the republic at the time.

The second emission brought monuments to the attention of the public, as well as pictures of Ankara, the new capital. The third emission explained improvements in industry by showing pictures of students at vocational schools. Also, pictures of grapes made it onto the banknotes as they were the country's leading export back then. The sixth emission included a picture of the Bosporus Bridge, while the seventh emission showed a picture from a thermal power plant built in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş. The eight emission found space for a picture of Atatürk Dam in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, emphasizing the importance of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP).

Source: Todayszaman