200 Piastre Note (1863)

In 1863, the Imperial Ottoman Bank, with Anglo-French capital, obtained a charter and secured the exclusive right to issue convertible banknotes for thirty years. This is the 200 piastre note from that year. The name Constantinople is printed on the face of the note. The core of sovereignty, the right to issue currency, was entrusted to a private bank with foreign capital—this "key given away" would foreshadow the later bankruptcy proceedings and wartime paper money.