Catalog
1000 Drachmai punch holes
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
| 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 | 175 x 110 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Central vignette with a portrait of Georgios Stavros set within an elaborate guilloche rosette, flanked by the denomination numeral 1000 on each side. The bank title ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ appears in an arc above the portrait, with ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΧΙΛΙΑΙ inscribed below in a tablet. The note carries multiple cancellation punch holes, and the upper border bears the legend ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ within a repeating numeral border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΧΙΛΙΑΙ 1000 |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Greece was occupied by Axis forces from April 1941, and the occupying authorities immediately sought to control the money supply. Notes already in circulation — including this 1000 Drachmai — were invalidated through punch cancellation rather than physical withdrawal, a practical measure given the disruption to normal banking infrastructure.
The ABNC printing origin matters here: these notes had been produced in New York before the occupation, part of a supply arrangement that became impossible to continue once Greece fell. Punch-cancelled survivors are common enough; uncancelled circulated examples from the occupation period are considerably harder to place with confidence.