Catalog
100 Drachmai
| Issuer | Banque de Crète (Bank of Crete) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901-1917 |
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| Currency | Drachme (1900-1929) |
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| Obverse description | At upper left, a vignette of an ancient Cretan coin; at centre, the coat of arms of the Cretan State within ornate guilloche borders; at upper right, a portrait of King George I. The face bears multilingual inscriptions identifying the issuing bank, denomination, and place of payment, along with the printed date and the titles of the Sovereign Commissioner, Governor, and Treasurer. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | At centre, a vignette of an ancient Cretan coin with a labyrinth motif, enclosed within intricate guilloche work. The bank name and denomination are rendered in French, arranged around the central vignette, with the printer's credit appearing at the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Crete was not a sovereign central bank but a privileged commercial institution, granted the right of note issue under the terms of the island's autonomous status following the 1897-98 Greco-Ottoman crisis. Crete's peculiar position — nominally still Ottoman, administered by the Great Powers, and governed locally by a High Commissioner — meant its banking arrangements were equally improvised. Bradbury, Wilkinson printed the notes in London to a quality that exceeded what the political situation on the ground probably warranted.
The series ran across nearly two decades because Crete's formal union with Greece in 1913 did not immediately trigger currency unification — circulating notes continued under the old issuing authority until absorption was administratively complete.