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 gold lira was introduced in 1843, weighing 7.216 g with a fineness of 91.67%, that is, 6.6 g of gold. In a bimetallic system, it was defined as equal in value to 100 silver kuruş of 1 g of silver (1.2027 g at 83%), first minted in 1844, at a ratio of 15.09. Each kuruş was divided into 40 para. There were 5, 10, and 20 kuruş coins; the 20-kuruş coin was called a mecidiye. All coinage minted until 1922 followed these standards.[1]
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 (1 para being equal to 3 akçe, thus 1 kuruş equal to 120 akçe). Having begun as a large silver coin, by the late 1800s the kurus had shrunk to a small silver coin.
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 2½-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, 2½, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 lira. Each note carried the portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
After Atatürk's death in 1938, new notes were prepared with the portrait of President İsmet İnönü. Atatürk 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; end date represents withdrawal from circulation) Information taken from this page
- 50 kuruş (1944-1948)
- 1 lira (1927-1939, 1942-1947)
- 2½ lira (1939-1966)
- 5 lira (1927-1983)
- 10 lira (1927-1987) 1970s series: Maiden's Tower, Istanbul - 1980s series: Atatürk meeting youths
- 20 lira (1966-1987) Atatürk Mausoleum, Ankara
- 50 lira (1927-1987)
- 100 lira (1927-1989) 1970s series: Ararat - 1980s series: Mehmet Akif Ersoy (Composer of Turkish National Anthem)
- 500 lira (1927-1989) 1970s series: Istanbul University - 1980s series: İzmir Clock Tower
- 1,000 lira (1927-1992) 1970s series: Bosphorus Bridge - 1980s series: Fatih Sultan Mehmet, view of Istanbul (SW)
- 5,000 lira (1981-1994) Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi and Mevlana Mausoleum, Konya
- 10,000 lira (1982-1995) Mimar Sinan and Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul
- 20,000 lira (1988-1997) Central Bank of Turkey, Ankara
- 50,000 lira (1989-1999) National Parliament
- 100,000 lira (1991-2001) Atatürk meeting youths
- 250,000 lira (1992-2006) Red Tower of Alanya
- 500,000 lira (1993-2006) — purple — Çanakkale Dardanelles (Anzac) Campaign Memorial
- 1,000,000 lira (1995-2006) — pink and blue — Atatürk Dam, largest of all dams making up the Southeastern Anatolia Project
- 5,000,000 lira (1997-2006) — brown — Atatürk Mausoleum in Ankara.
- 10,000,000 lira (1999-2006) — red — Cartographer Piri Reis' map and ship.
- 20,000,000 lira (2001-2006) — green — Ruins of Ephesus.
[edit] Coins
Dates taken from this page
- 10 para (1940-1942) (equivalent to ¼ kuruş)
- 100 para (1924-1928) (equivalent to 2½ kuruş)
- ½ kuruş (1948)
- 1 kuruş (1935-1977)
- 2½ kuruş (1948-1951)
- 5 kuruş (1928-1977)
- 10 kuruş (1928-1977)
- 25 kuruş (1928-1978)
- 50 kuruş (1935-1979)
- 1 lira (1937-1989)
- 2½ lira (1960-1980)
- 5 lira (1974-1989)
- 10 lira (1960-1989)
- 20 lira (1984)
- 25 lira (1985-1989)
- 50 lira (1984-1994)
- 100 lira (1984-1994)
- 500 lira (1989-1996)
- 1,000 lira (1990-1998)
- 2,500 lira (1991-1998)
- 5,000 lira (1992-2001)
- 10,000 lira (1994-2001)
- 25,000 lira (1995-2004)
- 50,000 lira (1996-2004)
- 100,000 lira (1999-2004)
- 250,000 lira (2002-2004)
[edit] References
- ^ Sevket Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire, Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-521-44197-8, p. 208
