250 Mils 1968, Cyprus
| in Krause book | Number: 41a |
| Years of issue: | 01.03.1968 |
| Edition: | 750 000 |
| Signatures: | Director: Christakis Costas Stephani |
| Serie: | 1964 - 1966 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 01.12.1964 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 126 х 73 |
| Printer: | Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company Limited, New Malden |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Head of eagle.
Most likely, this is the head of Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata or Hieraaetus fasciatus) - - the only species of eagle breeding in Cyprus!
Avers:
On left side are the olives. On left and right sides are the grapes vines.
The olives (Olea europaea).
The olive, known by the botanical name Olea europaea, meaning "european olive", (syn. Olea sylvestris) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, found in much of Africa, the Mediterranean Basin from Portugal to the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and southern Asia as far east as China, as well as the Canary Islands, Mauritius and Réunion. The species is cultivated in many places and considered naturalized in Portugal, Spain, Algeria, France (including Corsica), Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Albania, Crimea, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Argentina, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Lebanon, Java, Norfolk Island, California and Bermuda.
Olives are harvested in the autumn and winter. More specifically in the Northern hemisphere, green olives are picked at the end of September to about the middle of November. Blond olives are picked from the middle of October to the end of November, and black olives are collected from the middle of November to the end of January or early February. In southern Europe, harvesting is done for several weeks in winter, but the time varies in each country, and with the season and the cultivar.
Most olives today are harvested by shaking the boughs or the whole tree. Using olives found lying on the ground can result in poor quality oil, due to damage. Another method involves standing on a ladder and "milking" the olives into a sack tied around the harvester's waist. This method produces high quality oil. A third method uses a device called an oli-net that wraps around the tree trunk and opens to form an umbrella-like catcher from which workers collect the fruit. Another method uses an electric tool, "the oliviera", that has large tongs that spin around quickly, removing fruit from the tree. Olives harvested by this method are used for oil.
Table olive varieties are more difficult to harvest, as workers must take care not to damage the fruit; baskets that hang around the worker's neck are used. In some places in Italy, Croatia, and Greece, olives are harvested by hand because the terrain is too mountainous for machines. As a result, the fruit is not bruised, which leads to a superior finished product. The method also involves sawing off branches, which is healthy for future production. 
On right side is the coat of arms.
The coat of arms of the Republic of Cyprus depicts a dove carrying an olive branch (a well-known symbol of peace) over “1960”, the year of Cypriot independence from British rule. The background is a copper-yellow colour; this symbolises the large deposits of copper ore on Cyprus (chiefly in the form of chalcopyrite, which is yellow in colour). The arms is not violating the rule of tincture, since the dove is not argent (silver) but blazoned as of the colour proper, i.e. it has the colour it would have in nature, in this case white.
The name of the bank in Greek and Turkish languages.
In lower right corner is the island of Cyprus.
Gold ears of wheat are centered.
Denominations in numerals are in top left and right corners. Date is centered.
Revers:
Skouriotissa Copper Mine.
Skouriotissa (Σκουριώτισσα) is a village in the Nicosia District of Cyprus and the site of the former Skourotissa mines. Today the area is largely uninhabited with only 8 people remaining in the village.
The mining history of Cyprus has connected the name Cyprus, with the name of copper (Cuprous). The production of copper in Cyprus began 3000 BC on a full scale. The ancient Cypriots were not only experienced miners but also skilful metallurgists. They discovered almost all copper ore bodies which have been exploited in modern years, and they were able to recover the rich part of the ore bodies by underground exploitation methods and produce high grade metal copper (copper talents) by metallurgical methods, of which their base is still used today. It is remarkable that the waste of the metallurgical treatment, known as ancient slug, has minimal residues of copper. Ancient slug may usually be found near various copper mines and is protected from the legislation as an ancient monument.
In modern years, copper exploitation began around 1921 from the area of Skouriotissa and was continued intensely up to 1974. Underground and surface exploitation methods were used for ore recovery.
The main underground methods which were used were the horizontal successive slices or levels followed by roof falling (top slicing, sub level caving) or fulfillment of the voids by stone filling or hydraulic filling using cement pulp containing tailings from the metallurgical treatment plants (cut and fill, crosscut). The main surface method was that of the closed benches, primarily because of the topography of the mining areas.
The exploitation of copper sulfide minerals led simultaneously to the recovery of other sulfide minerals, mainly the iron pyrite.
The metallurgical methods which were applied were mainly those of flotation of copper minerals (chalcopyrite, bornite, covellite, chalcosite and cuprite), iron pyrite and other sulfide minerals (sphalerite), if contained in the ore. The enriched copper ores (copper concentrates) had an average content of about 19% and were exported from Cyprus. Because certain copper minerals (malachite, azurite, chrysocolla and partly chalcosite and cuprite) are dissolved in water (leaching), the dissolved copper was cemented with scrap iron producing copper cement with a content of about 55-65%. In the latter years of the operation of the Xero treatment plant (closed in 1974), a pressure copper leaching in autoclaves was applied on the tailings of the plant. It was then followed by clarification of the copper solution and cementation with scrap iron, achieving a content of about 70% of copper in the copper cement product. The method of dump leaching using thin acidic solution - cementation with iron - production of copper cement was applied systematically from 1982 to 1993 on the low grade dumps of Skouriotissa copper mine. The only mining activity that exists today in Cyprus is the copper mine of Skouriotissa which produces copper metal cathodes (99.999%) applying the Leaching - Solvent Extraction - Electowinning method (Leaching - SX - EW) since 1996.
On top and bottom are the dump trucks with ore.
My next version is, for now, only a guess. Since the pictures on the right and left are similar to the underground drilling method, they fit the theme of the banknote, as do the trolleys above and below. But ... exactly the same image is on the 1982 500 Mils banknote, as well as the 1988 50 Cents. Why is it there, if this is a method of underground rebellion - it is not clear!
On right and left sides, presumably, are depicted the main underground method, which were used by underground drilling - the horizontal successive slices or levels followed by roof falling (top slicing, sub level caving).
Near the houses are the trees Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens).
Cupressus sempervirens, the Mediterranean cypress (also known as Italian cypress, Tuscan cypress, graveyard cypress, or pencil pine), is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region, in northeast Libya, southern Albania, southern coastal Croatia (Dalmatia), southern Greece, southern Turkey, Cyprus, northern Egypt, western Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Malta, Italy, western Jordan, and also a disjunct population in Iran.
C. sempervirens is a medium-sized coniferous evergreen tree to 35 m. (115 ft.) tall, with a conic crown with level branches and variably loosely hanging branchlets. It is very long-lived, with some trees reported to be over 1,000 years old.
The foliage grows in dense sprays, dark green in colour. The leaves are scale-like, 2-5 mm. long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots. The seed cones are ovoid or oblong, 25-40 mm. long, with 10-14 scales, green at first, maturing brown about 20-24 months after pollination. The male cones are 3-5 mm. long, and release pollen in late winter. It is moderately susceptible to cypress canker, caused by the fungus Seiridium cardinale, and can suffer extensive dieback where this disease is common. The species name sempervirens comes from the Latin for "evergreen".
Denomination in words is in lower left corner.
Comments:
The banknote withdrawn from circulation at 01.03.1984.
The British introduced the pound sterling unit to Cyprus in 1879 at a rate of one to 180 Turkish piastres. It remained equal in value to the pound sterling until 1972 and was initially divided into 20 shillings (σελίνι / σελίνια, şilin). The shilling was divided into 9 piastres (γρόσι / γρόσια, kuruş), thus establishing a nomenclature link to the previous currency. The piastre was itself divided into 40 para (like the kuruş). The para denomination did not appear on any coins or banknotes but was used on postage stamps.
In 1955, Cyprus decimalized with 1000 mils (μιλς, mil) to the pound. Colloquially, the 5 mil coin was known as a "piastre" (not an exact equivalence) and the 50 mil coin as a "shilling" (an exact equivalence). The subdivision was changed to 100 cents (σεντ, sent) to the pound on 3 October 1983. At that time, the smallest coin still in circulation was that of 5 mils. This was renamed as ½ cent, but soon was abolished. Mil-denominated coins are no longer legal tender.
In 1955, the 5 and 10 shilling notes were replaced by 250 and 500 mil notes. The Central Bank of Cyprus was established in 1963 as an autonomous institution in accordance with the Central Bank of Cyprus Law 1963 and the relevant articles of the constitution. It began issuing paper money in 1964, and introduced 10-pound notes in 1977. Notes for 250 mils ceased production in 1982, shortly before the cent was introduced.
A set of Cyprus Proof coins of 1963 in my collection by Royal British Mint. Issued 25000 sets.
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