Greek drachma

After gaining independence, Greece introduced its own monetary unit, called the " Greek phoenix " and equal to 100 mites . 1 phoenix was equal to 1/6 of Turkish kurush (piastra) or 1 French franc.

As a monetary unit of the modern Greek state, silver drachma was put into circulation by royal decree on February 8, 1833, during the reign of King Otto , at a par value of 1 phoenix = 1 drachma. Prior to this, in 1828, Ioannis Kapodistrias tried to establish drachma as a national currency .

In 1868, Greece joined the Latin Monetary Union , becoming the fifth member of this association along with France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland. The Greek monetary system was unified with the monetary systems of the participating countries on the basis of the ratio of silver to gold, at the rate of 15.5: 1.

Greece suffered hyperinflation during the German occupation. The new drachma was introduced on November 11, 1944. 1 new drachma was exchanged for 50 billion old. But inflation continued, and on May 1, 1954 a new exchange took place, 1 newer drachma in exchange for 1000 old ones.

Banknotes were printed on the Bank of Greece Banknote Printing House (IETA), founded in 1938, but began to work fully only in 1947. ^[one]

On January 1, 2002, the drachma was replaced by the euro . The official exchange rate was 340.75 drams per euro.

On April 3, 2015, the Government of Greece prepared a plan for the nationalization of the banking system and the introduction of drachma, as parallel to the euro currency. This plan will be implemented if Greece cannot agree on a financial support program with Europe . In this case, the government will not have money to fulfill social obligations ^[2] .

Each of the meanings of the word “drachma” has its own symbol (all of them are included in the Unicode standard):

• as a unit of money account of Ancient Greece - ł (   );
• as the weight unit of Ancient Greece - 𐅻 (<·);
• as a weight unit in alchemy and pharmaceuticals - ʒ ;
• as the national currency of Greece in 1832-2002 - ₯ .

In 1868, coinage was started according to the norms of the Latin Monetary Union:

• 1, 2, 5 and 10 mites were made of copper,
• 20 and 50 mites, 1, 2, 5 drachmas - from silver,
• 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 drams - from gold ^[3] .

In 1893, 20 mites, and in 1994, 10 mites became copper-nickel. In 1879, the issue of coins in denominations of 1 and 2 mines was discontinued. In 1910 and 1911, drachmas 1 and 2 were released in an updated design while maintaining weight and silver. After the establishment of the Second Republic in 1926, a new series was issued in which coins from 20 mites of 5 drams each became copper-nickel, and 10 and 20 drams became silver.

After the plebiscite of 1935 and the restoration of the monarchy in 1954, the type of coins was again changed; . In 1960, a silver coin of 20 drams was issued ^[4] .

After the referendum of 1973, Greece was again proclaimed a republic, and in the same year the minting of new coins was started.

In the address before the transition to the euro countries were:

• 1 drachma (€ 0,0029)
• 2 drachmas (€ 0,0059)
• 5 drachmas (€ 0,0147)
• 10 drachmas (€ 0,0293)
• 20 drachmas (€ 0,0587)
• 50 drachmas (€ 0,147)
• 100 drachmas (€ 0,293)

• Don Norris World Coin Gallery - Greece
• Ron Wise World's Paper Money Gallery - Greece ^Mirror
• World History of Currency - Greece (English)
• Global Financial Data - Greek Drachm
• Global currency data global currency history table (   in Microsoft Excel format )
• Catalog and gallery of coins of Greece
• Greek Banknote Gallery (German )