Turkish kuruş

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The kuruş (غروش) was the currency of the Turkey and parts of the Ottoman Empire until 1844. It was subdivided into 40 para (پاره), each of 3 akçe. In European languages, the kuruş was often referred to as the piastre.

1 History
2 Coins
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The kuruş was introduced in 1688. It was initially a large, silver coin, approximately equal to the French écu. However, during the 18th and early 19th centuries, debasement reduced the kuruş to a billon coin weighing less than 3 grams.

In 1844, the lira was introduced as the new standard denomination. It was worth 100 kuruş and the kuruş continued to circulate until the 1970s. The name was revived in 2005 as the subdivision of the Turkish new lira.

[edit] Coins

At the beginning of the 19th century, silver coins were in circulation for 1 akçe, 1, 5, 10 and 20 para, 1, 2 and 2½ kuruş, together with gold coins denominated in zeri mahbub and altin. As the silver coins were debased, other denominations appeared: 30 para, 1½, 3, 5 and 6 kuruş. The final coinage issued before the currency reform consisted of billon 1, 10 and 20 para, and silver 1½, 3 and 6 kuruş .