10 New Drachmai Ionian Bank

The Ionian Bank was a British-chartered institution, incorporated in London in 1839 and granted the exclusive right to issue banknotes in the Ionian Islands — then a British protectorate. When the islands were ceded to Greece in 1864, the bank retained its note-issuing privilege under Greek law, an unusual arrangement that persisted for decades and left a British commercial bank functioning as a de facto central bank on Greek territory.

Perkins, Bacon & Petch produced the plate using their characteristic intaglio steel-engraving method, developed to resist counterfeiting. The "New Drachmai" denomination reflects the post-unification currency standardization rather than a separate monetary system — the qualifier distinguishing these notes from earlier Ionian issues denominated under the pre-annexation monetary regime.