Catalog
1 Nea Drachma
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
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| Currency | Third modern drachma (1954-2001) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΜΙΑ ΝΕΑ ΔΡΑΧΜΗ ΟΙ ΔΙΕΥΘΥΝΤΑΙ Ο ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ Πληρωτέαι επί τη εμφανίσει ΕΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΣ Α 000000 |
| Reverse description | The reverse is composed entirely of intricate multicolour guilloche lacework in blue and red-orange, filling the entire field without a central pictorial vignette. A rectangular panel at centre carries the inscription ΜΙΑ ΝΕΑ ΔΡΑΧΜΗ in bold Greek capitals, framed by a meander border. The bank title ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ is printed in blue at the top, with the numeral 1 in blue at lower left and lower right. |
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| Comments |
The "Nea" (New) Drachma denomination was introduced following Greece's 1953 revaluation, which slashed the old drachma at a rate of 1,000 to 1 — the cumulative damage of wartime occupation, the Axis requisition of Greek gold reserves, and a vicious postwar hyperinflation that had rendered earlier notes essentially worthless. This 1 Nea Drachma is among the lowest denominations of that reformed series, printed in-house by the Bank of Greece rather than contracted abroad.
The Bank of Greece Printing Works had been producing domestic issues since the mid-1940s; this note continued that tradition at a moment when the redenomination was still fresh enough that the public remained skeptical of paper.