Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
100 000 000 Drachmai Kefalonia - Ithaka
| Issuer | Bank of Greece (Ionian Islands Regional Issue) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Plain cream paper note of simple typographic design, with the large bold heading ΤΑΜΙΑΚΟΝ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΟΝ (Treasury Bill) across the top centre. The denomination 100,000,000 / ΕΚΑΤΟΝ ΕΚΑΤΟΜΜΥΡΙΑ is set in bold letterpress in the centre, flanked on both sides by guilloche-style ornamental vignettes. A text block in Greek authorises circulation specifically in Kefalonia and Ithaka under Government Decree No. 6)5.10.44, dated Argostoli, 6 October 1944, with two manuscript signatures below representing the Governor's Representative and the Bank of Greece. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΑΡΓΟΣΤΟΛΙ 6 OCT. 1944 |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Ionian Islands regional issues of 1944 occupy a specific and uncomfortable corner of Greek wartime monetary history. While mainland Greece was under joint Axis occupation, the Ionian Islands fell under Italian administration — and when Italy collapsed in September 1943, German forces moved in. The Bank of Greece regional notes for Kefalonia and Ithaka were issued during this German phase, as the occupiers required a functioning local currency to extract goods and labor while the broader Greek economy was being destroyed by hyperinflation.
The 100,000,000 drachmai figure reflects how far the currency had collapsed by mid-1944. This denomination, unthinkable five years earlier, was routine by the time of issue.