Catalog
100 Drachmai
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Blue intaglio on gold underprint. A central vignette shows a ship ablaze at sea, evoking the celebrated fireship attacks of the Greek War of Independence, with a portrait of maritime hero Konstantinos Kanaris at right. Denomination numerals and bank title appear in the surrounding letterpress legends. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 100 ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 100 Γʹ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΕΚΑΤΟΝ Πληρωτέαι ἐπὶ τῇ ἐμφανίσει ΕΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΣ Ο ΔΙΕΥΘΥΝΤΗΣ Ο ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ (Translation: 100 Bank of Greece 3rd [issue] One hundred drachmai Payable on demand In Athens The Manager (signature unknown) The Governor (signature of Kyriakos Varvaresos)) |
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| Comments |
This note belongs to one of the most extreme hyperinflationary episodes in modern European history. By late 1944, the occupation-era drachma had collapsed so completely that the denomination printed here — 100 drachmai — was effectively worthless before it even circulated. The Bank of Greece was issuing notes in the billions by October of that year, and the November 1944 currency reform replaced 50 billion old drachmai with a single new one.
Waterlow & Sons printed the series in London while Greece was under Axis occupation, the exile government maintaining institutional continuity from abroad. Physical delivery and actual distribution were another matter entirely.