Tag: Ahmet Bey

Artists whose designs were used on Turkish currency

We compiled the list of artists who created the designs of the coins and banknotes of Republic of Türkiye.

Most of the coins were produced by artists employed by the Mint, and most of the banknotes by the engravers of the Central Bank’s Banknote Print, yet in the early periods of the Republic, foreign experts were consulted and the works of artists participating in occasional competitions have also taken place on commemorative and circulation coins.

Artists whose designs were used on Turkish currency:

(dates in brackets indicate the year which the artist’s first design ewas released into circulation.)

Artists who were awarded degrees in competitions, but whose designs were not used on coins:

Artists whose artwork is used on currency indirectly:

*designers of some of the coins and most of the banknotes are missing from the list. It will be updated as new information surfaces.

cover photo: 2018 annual report of the Turkşsh Stete Mint

Calligrapher Ahmet Bey

Calligrapher Ahmet was the creator of the texts on the first banknotes of the Turkish Republic. He used different calligraphy styles such as Diwani, Ruq’ah, Thuluth, Naskh, Taliq on different denominations of the banknotes that were printed in 1927 in London by the De la Rue printhouse.

The drawings of the banknotes were the handiwork of the painter Ali Sami Boyar, State Mint engraver Ismail Hasim was also among the team that was sent to London. *1.

 

[1] Cumhuriyet Gazetesine Göre Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin İlk Kâğıt Paralarının Basım Serüveni, Melek Öksüz, Tarih Dergisi – Turkish Journal of History, 81 (2023/3): 63-120

 

* Click here for the list of artists whose handiwork has contributed to Turkish Republic’s currency.

Ali Sami Boyar (1880 ~1967)

Ali Sami Boyar is the designer of the first emission banknotes released in 1927 (*5 Sf.6).

He studied arts during middle school and later at the Naval Academy. He graduated the Naval Academy in 1901 and while working for the Navy, enrolled to Fine Arts School which he graduated in 1908.

In 1925, he won the contest for the first stamps of the Republic. Later in his career, while he was managing the Museum of Endowments (today Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum), he was appointed to produce the designs for the first banknotes of the republic.

He was sent to London to oversee the printing process along with the State Mint engraver İsmail Haşim and some other officials. The inscriptions on the banknotes were made by Calligrapher Ahmet in different font styles, so that it would be easier for the public to recognize different denominations. *1. The portrait on the 1000, 500 and 100 Lira banknotes was based on Atatürk’s photo taken at the Phebus Photo Studio by Bogos Tarkulyan(*2).

The series consisting of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1.000 Lira denominations was printed in London Thomas de la Rue Printhouse.

 

The symbolism of the banknotes included Grey Wolf, Crescent and star, the new parliament in Ankara. The texts were still in the Turkish Arabic syntax and in traditional and partly kufic fonts.

Sources:

[1]Story of The Printing of The First Banknotes of the Turkish Republic According to The Daily Cumhuriyet, Melek Öksüz, Tarih Dergisi – Turkish Journal of History, 81 (2023/3): 63-120

[2] Belki Beni Tanıyamayacaksın: Lesser known photos and memoirs of Atatürk from Ömer Koç Collection

[3] Koleksiyon.org; article by Koray Tekay (“from an article from the book “75 Yılda Para’nın Serüveni” (adventures of our money in the last 75 years))

Some detailed biographies of the airtist (Turkish):