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1 000 000 000 Drachmai Agrinion
| Issuer | Bank of Greece, Agrinion Branch |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Reference(s) | P#149 |
| Obverse description | Cheque-style emergency local issue printed in black on plain white paper. The upper left carries the bank name ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ and branch designation ΥΠΟΚΑΤΑΣΤΗΜΑ ΑΓΡΙΝΙΟΥ, with the denomination ΕΠΙΤΑΓΗ ΔΡΑΧ. 1.000.000.000 in the upper right. The body text, set in letterpress, orders payment of one billion drachmai (ΕΝΑ ΔΙΣΕΚΑΤΟΜΜΥΡΙΟΝ) and is dated 6 Οκτωβρίου 1944 at Agrinion, bearing the manuscript signature of the branch director Γ. ΦΑΝΟΣ below the ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ branch stamp. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΥΠΟΚΑΤΑΣΤΗΜΑ ΑΓΡΙΝΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΤΑΓΗ ΔΡΑΧ. 1.000.000.000 Εν Αγρινίω τη 6 Οκτωβρίου 1944 ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΕΝΑ ΔΙΣΕΚΑΤΟΜΜΥΡΙΟΝ ΗΜΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΙΔΙΩΝ Γ. ΦΑΝΟΣ |
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| Comments |
Greece's hyperinflation of 1944 was among the worst the twentieth century produced. By October of that year, the price level had risen roughly 163 billion times compared to 1941 — a figure that makes even a billion-drachmai note feel almost mundane within the sequence. The Bank of Greece's regional branch issues, including this Agrinion example, were emergency responses to a denomination spiral that the Athens printings could not keep pace with.
Branch-signed issues like this one are distinguished by the locally applied signature of the branch director rather than central bank officials. Γ. Φάνος signed for Agrinion. These provincial variants are scarcer than their Athens-issued counterparts and frequently confused with them in generalist collections.