Turkish lira
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The Turkish lira was the currency of Turkey until 2005.
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[edit] New Turkish Lira
- For more details on this topic, see New Turkish Lira.
On January 1, 2005 a new currency, the Yeni Türk Lirası (YTL, ISO 4217: TRY), was introduced to Turkey. The currency was revalued and is worth 1,000,000 old lira. The new lira is divided into 100 new kuruş, and is issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 YTL notes, and 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 kuruş and 1 YTL coins.
[edit] Old Turkish Lira
Until 2005 the Turkish currency was the Türk lirası (TL, ISO 4217: TRL), also called the lira; it was often referred to as the Turkish lira outside Turkey, to avoid confusion with the better-known (former) Italian money.
The lira was originally a gold coin, introduced in 1844. It was set equal to 100 kuruş, each of which were in turn divided into 40 para. Before the lira, the monetary unit used by the Ottoman Empire was first the akçe, later to be replaced by the kuruş (piastre), with the para as a subunit. Having begun as a large silver coin, by the late 1800s the kurus had shrunk to a small silver coin which equated to one hundredth of a gold lira.
The Banque Imperiale Ottomane (Imperial Ottoman Bank) first issued paper currency denominated in kuruş, with values ranging from 5 to 5000 kurus. The denomination switched from kuruş to lira in the mid 1870s. Denominations ranged from 5 kuruş to 1000 lira, with the 50,000-lira banknote specially prepared to fund the issue of small change (1- and 2.5-kurus) notes.
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.
The Turkish Republic replaced the older imperial Ottoman paper liras with the Turkish lira being reissued as a mid size silver coin. Turkish lira notes were also introduced in denominations of 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 lira. Each note carried the portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
After Ataturk's death in 1938, new notes were prepared with the portrait of President Ismet Inonu. Ataturk reappeared on a subsequent series of notes in the early 1950s.
Chronic inflation from the late 1970s onward saw the Turkish lira sharply depreciate against other major currencies.
- 1933 — 1 U.S. dollar = 2 Turkish lira.
- 1966 — 1 U.S. dollar = 9 Turkish lira.
- 1980 — 1 U.S. dollar = 90 Turkish lira.
- 1988 — 1 U.S. dollar = 1,300 Turkish lira.
- 1995 — 1 U.S. dollar = 45,000 Turkish lira.
- 2001 — 1 U.S. dollar = 1,650,000 Turkish lira.
The Turkish lira slid in value to such an extent that one original gold lira coin could be sold for approximately 120,000,000 Turkish lira prior to the 2005 revaluation.
In its last few years the Turkish lira stabilised and even rose against the U.S. dollar and the Euro. In December 2004, it traded at about 1,350,000 lira to 1 U.S. dollar, and about 1,850,000 lira per Euro. The Guinness Book of Records ranked the lira as the world's least valuable currency.
A portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk appears on all Turkish banknotes and coins. Reverse designs of banknotes vary. Present denominations include:
[edit] Banknotes
(Some out of existence today before the new lira)
- 1 lira (Last issued 1948)
- 2½ lira (Last issued 1970s)
- 5 lira (Last issued 1970s)
- 10 lira (Last issued 1980s) 1970s series: Maiden's Tower, Istanbul - 1980s series: Ataturk meeting youths
- 20 lira (Last issued 1980s) Ataturk Mausoleum, Ankara
- 50 lira (Last issued 1980s)
- 100 lira (last issued late 1980s) 1970s series: Ararat - 1980s series: Mehmet Akif Ersoy (Composer of Turkish National Anthem)
- 500 lira (last issued early 1990s) 1970s series: Istanbul University - 1980s series: Izmir Clock Tower
- 1,000 lira (last issued early 1990s) 1970s series: Bosphorus Bridge - 1980s series: Fatih Sultan Mehmet, view of Istanbul (SW)
- 5,000 lira (last issued early 1990s) Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi and Mevlana Mausoleum, Konya
- 10,000 lira (last issued 1994) Mimar Sinan and Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul
- 20,000 lira (last issued 1995) Central Bank of Turkey, Ankara
- 50,000 lira (last issued 1997) National Parliament
- 100,000 lira (last issued 2000) Ataturk meeting youths
- 250,000 lira (last issued 2002) Red Tower of Alanya
- 500,000 lira — purple — Canakkale Dardanelles (Anzac) Campaign Memorial
- 1,000,000 lira — pink and blue — Atatürk Dam, largest of all dams making up the Southeastern Anatolia Project
- 5,000,000 lira — brown — Atatürk Mausoleum in Ankara.
- 10,000,000 lira — red — Cartographer Piri Reis' map and ship.
- 20,000,000 lira — green — Ruins of Ephesus.
[edit] Coins
- 1 lira (Last issued 1989)
- 2½ lira (Last issued 1981)
- 5 lira (Last issued 1989)
- 10 lira (Last issued 1989)
- 25 lira (Last issued 1989)
- 50 lira (Last issued 1993)
- 100 lira (Last issued 1993)
- 500 lira (Last issued 1997)
- 1,000 lira (Last issued 1998)
- 2,500 lira (Last issued 1997)
- 5,000 lira (Last issued 2001)
- 10,000 lira (Last issued 2001)
- 25,000 lira (Last issued 2001)
- 50,000 lira (Last issued 2004)
- 100,000 lira (Last isued 2004)
- 250,000 lira (Last issued 2004)
