The phoenix was Greece's first modern currency, introduced by Ioannis Kapodistrias following his arrival as the first Governor of the newly independent Greek state in 1828. The choice of denomination name was deliberate political symbolism — Greece rising from the ashes of Ottoman rule — though the currency itself lasted only until 1832, when the Bavarian-backed monarchy replaced it with the drachma.
Kapodistrias contracted the striking to the Aegina mint, the first modern Greek mint, established that same year. His assassination in 1831 effectively ended the phoenix's brief institutional life before the coinage series was ever completed.
The phoenix was Greece's first modern currency, introduced by Ioannis Kapodistrias following his arrival as the first Governor of the newly independent Greek state in 1828. The choice of denomination name was deliberate political symbolism — Greece rising from the ashes of Ottoman rule — though the currency itself lasted only until 1832, when the Bavarian-backed monarchy replaced it with the drachma.
Kapodistrias contracted the striking to the Aegina mint, the first modern Greek mint, established that same year. His assassination in 1831 effectively ended the phoenix's brief institutional life before the coinage series was ever completed.