20000 TRY #533

Front

Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan (built 1671-1673 under Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb). One of the largest and most iconic Mughal-era mosques, it represents an architectural tribute within Turkish banknote design. The inscription at top reads 'Devlet-i Pakistan' (State of Pakistan) in Ottoman Turkish script, and the denomination '2 rupees' appears at bottom in Urdu script, indicating this is actually a Pakistani banknote misidentified by the back image.

Back

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, military commander who led Turkish independence following WWI, and architect of Turkey's modernization and secularization. The note bears the text 'YİRMİ BİN TÜRK LİRASI' (Twenty Thousand Turkish Lira) and includes the printed date '14 OCAK 1970 TARİH VE 1211 SAYILI KANUNA GÖRE ÇIKARILMIŞTIR' (Issued according to Law No. 1211 dated 14 January 1970).

History

This is a mismatched pair. The front image shows a Pakistani 2 rupee note featuring Badshahi Mosque with Urdu and Persian script. The back image shows a Turkish 20,000 lira note from the E7 emission group, issued under Law No. 1211 of 14 January 1970. The Turkish lira experienced significant inflation through the 1970s-1990s, necessitating high denominations; this note was part of Turkey's seventh emission group. The 20,000 lira denomination was common in circulation until the 2005 currency reform that introduced the New Turkish Lira, redenominating at 1,000,000:1. Atatürk has appeared on virtually all Turkish banknotes since the founding of the Republic.