Catalog
10 000 Dracme
| Issuer | Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per la Grecia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 000 Drachmai (10 000) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CASSA MEDITERRANEA DI CREDITO PER LA GRECIA ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΩΝ ΤΑΜΕΙΟΝ ΠΙΣΤΕΩΣ ΔΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ BUONO PER Diecimila DRACME ΑΞΙΑ ΔΕΚΑ ΧΙΛΙΑΔΕΣ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ 10000 |
| Reverse description | The reverse repeats the bilingual heading "CASSA MEDITERRANEA DI CREDITO PER LA GRECIA" and "ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΩΝ ΤΑΜΕΙΟΝ ΠΙΣΤΕΩΣ ΔΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ" across the upper portion, with "BUONO PER Diecimila DRACME" in large italic script at centre over a numeral 10000 underprint. Corner medallions carry the denomination "10000 DRACME" and "10000 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ" in all four quadrants. Serial numbers appear in red at left and right of centre, with the note framed throughout by a fine guilloche border. |
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| Comments |
The Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per la Grecia was an Italian occupation authority instrument, not a Greek institution. It was established specifically to extract resources from occupied Greece by issuing currency unbacked by any meaningful reserve — the resulting inflation contributed to one of the most catastrophic famines of the Second World War, the Great Famine of 1941–44, in which an estimated 100,000 Greeks died in Athens alone during the first winter.
The 10,000 Dracme denomination signals how quickly the occupation currency was already racing toward worthlessness. By 1944, the Cassa had issued notes reaching into the billions of drachmai.