Catalog
10 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1892-1900 |
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| Value | 10 Drachmai |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΔΕΚΑ ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 10 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΔΕΚΑ ΠΛΗΡΩΤΕΑ ΕΠΙ ΤΗ ΕΜΦΑΝΙΣΕΙ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΣ ΤΗ ΤΑΜΙΑΣ ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ ΒΑΣ. ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΟΣ |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in brown and composed of dense lathe-work guilloche patterns. A large central circular medallion bears the inscription BANQUE NATIONALE DE GRECE with 10 FRANCS at centre, surrounded by concentric bands of fine engine-turned ornament. Four corner counters each display the numeral 10, and the entire surface is covered with interlocking rosette and lace guilloche underprint with no figurative imagery. |
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| Comments |
The Österreichische Staatsdruckerei in Vienna printed for numerous foreign governments throughout the late nineteenth century, and this series is one of the less-studied examples of that relationship. Greece's reliance on Austrian state printing facilities during this period reflected both the underdevelopment of domestic printing infrastructure and the financial pressures following Greece's involvement in the 1897 Greco-Turkish War, which ended in a humiliating armistice and forced the country into international financial supervision under the International Financial Control commission established in 1898.
The eight-year issue window — 1892 to 1900 — spans that crisis almost exactly, which gives the later-dated examples particular historical weight.