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1 Drachma Ionian Bank Limited
| Issuer | Ionian Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio vignette of Athena at left, shown in profile wearing a crested helmet, rendered in dark engraved style against a guilloche underprint. The bank title ΙΟΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ LIMITED appears at top centre, with the denomination ΔΡΑΧΜΗ ΜΙΑ in bold letters within an ornate guilloche cartouche at centre right. Date and two manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, with the imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London along the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The Greek Royal coat of arms printed in brown at centre, consisting of a crowned shield bearing a white cross on blue ground, supported by two classical figures and surrounded by an ornate guilloche border with foliate corner decorations. Numeral 1 appears at left and right within the side panels. The printer's imprint BRADBURY WILKINSON & COMPY. Lᵈ LONDON is inscribed along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Ionian Bank was a British-chartered institution operating primarily in the Ionian Islands and, after their 1864 cession to Greece, continuing under Greek sovereignty with its original London charter intact. That legal peculiarity — a British joint-stock bank issuing drachma-denominated notes under Greek monetary law — gave the bank an unusual dual existence that lasted well into the twentieth century.
Bradbury Wilkinson handled the printing throughout the bank's note-issuing period. The 1 Drachma denomination was the workhorse of small retail transactions and was consequently subject to heavy wear; surviving examples in sound condition are disproportionately rare relative to higher denominations from the same series.