500 Mils 1974, Cyprus
| in Krause book | Number: 42b |
| Years of issue: | 01.06.1974 |
| Edition: | I 33 250000 |
| Signatures: | Director: Christakis Costas Stephani |
| Serie: | 1964 - 1966 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 01.12.1964 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 140 х 82 |
| 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:
The rosette shown on the left clearly resembles a flower of the Tree of Life (this is just my guess). There is also a visual resemblance to stylized chrysanthemum from banknote of Japan. But, nevertheless, I would not call the outlet on the Cyprus banknote a chrysanthemum.
In Cyprus, there have been, and are, made many products in this design - the flower of the Tree of Life.
Chair curving from Swat region, Northern Pakistan - flower of the Tree of Life.
Urantia Book does not mention any flowers of the the tree of life. Both leaves and fruit of the tree of life were used by Van and his associates at first, and then by Adam and Eve subsequently. Thus, the tree of life was most likely a flowering shrub.
The tree of life was never transplanted to the Second Eden. However, Vanite ancestors of Assyrians were taught that their seven commandments were given to Van up on the mount Ararat or Urartu (p. 860, §6). Thus, one would expect the Assyrians in the neighborhood of the Second Garden would have kept the tradition of the tree of life.
The tribes that had some interaction with the First Eden residents may have retained some tradition of the tree of life. If the First Eden was a fingerlike peninsula attached to the eastern Mediterranean coast of Israel or Lebanon, residents in this region may have some tradition about the tree, as well noted in the Genesis, but due to their taboo, they may not have left any graven images.
The Vanite division of the northern Nodites migrated to Crete. Thus, Cretans should have kept the tradition of the tree of life. Also, Cyprus was probably the island closest to the First Eden. Cretans and Cypriots would have traded much due to proximity.
On the left side is a subject of the ancient art of Cyprus - faience flower of Tree of Life. Made around 1300-1200 B.C. Found during excavations in the Ur (city).
Ur was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in south Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate.
The originals are in museum.
On the 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.
Lower right - the island of Cyprus.
Denominations in numerals are in top right and left corners. The date is in center.
Revers:
Mountain road in cedar valley.
After I visited Cyprus, and the Cedar Valley in particular, I had an idea. It seems to me that on the banknote is the road Cedar valley rd., Which cuts off the path from the E703 (if you go from Paphos to the valley) to the E740, towards the Kykkos monastery.
The design of this banknote was made in 1960, maybe it, then, was not asphalted as it is today. And the stone wall by the road (on the banknote) in those years was still a traditional fence. This can be seen in a frame from the 1965 English film "The High Bright Sun".
Leaving Panayia on the route signposted for Kykko monastery, follow the paved road, always towards Kykko at the well-marked junctions, for 22 km. until the paving ends abruptly upon arrival at Cedar Valley. This is no more or less that that, a hidden gulch with thousands of specimens of Cedrus Brevifolia, a type of aromatic cedar indigenous to Cyprus, first cousin to the more famous Lebanese variety and now principally found here. At a hairpin bend in the track, there is a picnic area and a spring, while a sign points to another track - wide but not suitable for vehicles - that leads 2,5 km. up to 1362-metres high Tripylos peak.
The view of the Troodos Mountains, in the background of the banknote, opens from almost anywhere from the Cedar valley rd.
Below, I put photos and videos from our trip, with my wife:
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.
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