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1 Drachme Ionian Bank Limited
| Issuer | Ionian Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885 |
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| Currency | First modern drachma (1832-1944) |
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| Obverse description | Oval vignette at left with a bust portrait of a young woman, framed by a guilloche border. Centre field carries the date text and two manuscript signatures below the bank title ΙΟΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ LIMITED in bold letterpress. At right, a circular guilloche vignette encloses the large numeral 1 with the word ΔΡΑΧΜΗ. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of the Greek royal coat of arms — a crowned shield bearing the cross — set within a circular guilloche frame. Anti-counterfeiting warning text in Greek appears in two columns flanking the central arms, with the serial number repeated in the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Ionian Bank was a British-chartered institution — incorporated in London in 1839 — that operated as the sole bank of issue for the Ionian Islands during the period of British Protectorate. After the islands' union with Greece in 1864, the bank retained its note-issuing privilege under Greek authorization, an unusual arrangement that persisted for decades and gave these notes a peculiar dual character: British corporate origin, Greek monetary territory.
By 1885 the bank faced increasing pressure from the National Bank of Greece, which was aggressively consolidating issuing rights across the country. The Ionian Bank's franchise was eventually terminated in 1920.