Catalog
1/2 Drachma - Otto Pattern
| Issuer | Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1842 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed mature effigy of King Otto (Otho) facing right, with short wavy hair and a light beard, the truncation of the bust cut cleanly below the neck. A small engraver's mark, the letter X, appears in tiny relief beneath the truncation in the lower field. The circular Greek legend runs along the periphery from left to right. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Otto's Bavarian regency government spent much of the 1830s and early 1840s wrestling with the question of a coherent Greek coinage system, and several pattern issues from this period never advanced to full production. This 1842 half-drachma sits in that liminal space — struck for official inspection rather than circulation, part of the broader Bavarian-influenced monetary reorganization that followed Greek independence.
KM#Pn14 is rarely encountered, with surviving examples almost certainly traceable to the original presentation strikings.