Catalog
100 000 Drachmai Agricultural Treasury Bond, second issue
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
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| Value | 100 000 Drachmai (100 000) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΤΑΜΕΙΑΚΟΝ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΟΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΚΟΜΙΣΤΗΝ ΔΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΣΥΓΚΕΝΤΡΩΣΙΝ ΤΩΝ ΑΓΡΟΤΙΚΩΝ ΠΡΟΙΟΝΤΩΝ ΣΕΙΡΑ Β! 100.000 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ Ο ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ ΟΙ ΔΙΕΥΘΥΝΤΑΙ ΕΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΣ ΤΗ 5η ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ 1943 ΝΟΜΟΘΕΤΙΚΟΝ ΔΙΑΤΑΓΜΑ ΑΡ.2164/19-2-1943 ΥΠΟΥΡΓΙΚΗ ΑΠΟΦΑΣΙΣ ΤΗΣ 5-3-1943 |
| Reverse description | Printed in warm ochre and brown tones, the reverse is entirely covered by a dense guilloche underprint with four ornate rosette vignettes positioned at the corners and centre sides. The large numeral 100.000 is set in bold outline lettering at the centre of the guilloche field. A repeating ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ inscription runs along all four margins as a continuous borderline legend. |
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| Comments |
Greece's occupation-era finances were managed through a deliberately fractured system — the Axis authorities allowed the Bank of Greece to continue issuing notes but stripped it of any real monetary control. Agricultural Treasury Bonds like this one were a parallel instrument, nominally tied to agricultural credit but functionally a device for absorbing the catastrophic hyperinflation then consuming the drachma. By 1943, prices were doubling within days.
The "second issue" designation matters here. The first issue of the 100,000 Drachmai bond was rendered nearly worthless almost immediately upon release — not over months, but weeks — forcing a rapid follow-on emission. The denomination itself, unthinkable in peacetime Greece, had become routine by mid-occupation.