₺
The Turkish lira (Türk lirası; sign: ₺; code: TRY; usually abbreviated as TL) is the currency of Turkey and the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The lira, along with the related currencies of Europe and the Middle East, has its roots in the ancient Roman unit of weight known as the libra which referred to the Troy pound of silver. The Roman libra adoption of the currency spread it throughout Europe and the Near East, where it continued to be used into medieval times. The Turkish lira, the French livre (until 1794), the Italian lira (until 2002), and the British pound (a translated version of the Roman libra; the word "pound" as a unit of weight is still abbreviated as "lb.") are the modern descendants of the ancient currency.
The Ottoman lira was introduced as the main unit of currency in 1844, with the former currency, kuruş, remaining as a 1⁄100 subdivision. The Ottoman lira remained in circulation until the end of 1927.
Historical banknotes from the second, third and fourth issues have portraits of İsmet İnönü on the obverse side. This change was done according to the 12 January 1926 issue of the official gazette and canceled by the Democrat Party after World War II.
After periods of the lira pegged to the British pound and the French franc, a peg of 2.8 Turkish lira = 1 U.S. dollar was adopted in 1946 and maintained until 1960, when the currency was devalued to 9 Turkish lira = 1 dollar. From 1970, a series of hard, then soft pegs to the dollar operated as the value of the Turkish lira began to fall.
* 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