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Stamp Desk / Scripts of the world

Ottoman Empire, 1865 (1 kuruş)

A crescent and star in a lilac frame, under a heavy black boxed postmark.

A crescent and star in a lilac frame, under a heavy black boxed postmark; stamp issued by Ottoman Empire, 1865
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Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.

How to read it

A crescent and star with Arabic-script lettering: the Ottoman Empire.

  1. Ottoman state post
  2. Crescent and star
Inscription
دولت عثمانیه · ١
Meaning
The black lettering names the post of the Ottoman state (عثمانیه, Ottoman); ١ is the Arabic numeral one. The kuruş (piastre) was the Ottoman coin.
Issued by
Ottoman Empire
Today
Turkey and its neighbours
Year
1865. Issued 1865.
Made by
Mehmed Şevket Vahdetî (designer and calligrapher, died 1871); Pierre Edelestand Stanislas Dulos (engraver, died 1874); Sultan Abdülaziz (preliminary sketch designer, died 1876)

One fact

The 1865 stamps are called “Duloz” after their French engraver Pierre Dulos; the calligraphy is by Mehmed Şevket Vahdetî.

Source and public-domain rule

Creators died more than 70 years ago. Every named creator died more than 70 years ago: Mehmed Şevket Vahdetî (died 1871), Pierre Edelestand Stanislas Dulos (died 1874), Sultan Abdülaziz (died 1876). Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, counted from 1 January of the year after death. Every named designer and engraver of the stamp died before 1 January 1956; any contributor who was never named counts as anonymous, whose term is 70 years from publication, and the stamp was published before 1956. Legal sources: Directive 2006/116/EC, Art. 1(1) life + 70 years; Art. 1(3) anonymous works 70 years from publication; Art. 7(1) comparison of terms for works from outside the EU; Art. 8 terms run from 1 January, Switzerland, Norway.

Scan: Turkey 1865 Sc10a.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1164826942), licence templates {{PD-old-100}}. Downloaded 2026-10-22, sha256 cbdd61ea10c2…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-22 against source 1 and source 2. Open review note: Heavy boxed postmark across the stamp.. Research record, not legal advice; a second check of these rights by a person is planned, and a stamp that turns out not to be free to use will be removed. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.