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2 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885 |
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| Reference(s) | P#41 |
| Obverse description | At right, an intaglio vignette of Hermes in three-quarter profile facing left, rendered in a classical engraved style against a guilloche underprint in pale blue and green. The bank title ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ appears in a ruled panel at top, with the denomination ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΔΥΟ in large bold letters across the centre. Two manuscript signatures appear below the denomination line, with the imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd., London at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue intaglio and centres on the Greek royal coat of arms — a white cross on a blue shield supported by two classical male figures, surmounted by a crown, with the motto ΙΣΧΥΣ ΚΑΡΔΙΑ ΓΝΟΥΣ on the scroll below. The central armorial vignette is set within an elaborate ornamental frame of dense guilloche scrollwork, with the large numeral 2 repeated in mirror-image at both left and right margins. The printer's imprint BRADBURY, WILKINSON & COMPANY LD. LONDON appears at the foot. |
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| Comments |
The National Bank of Greece turned to Bradbury Wilkinson repeatedly during the 1880s, a period when the Greek state was navigating serious fiscal pressure following the expenses of post-independence consolidation and ongoing territorial disputes. This 2 Drachmai note belongs to a series that predates the 1885 suspension of gold convertibility by just months — Greece formally suspended specie payments that year and would not restore them for decades.
Bradbury Wilkinson's intaglio work was among the most technically sophisticated available to smaller sovereign issuers at the time, which is precisely why Athens kept sending the work to London rather than developing domestic printing capacity.