Catalog
2 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| 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 | 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 | ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΔΥΟ Νόμος ΑΤΜΒάσει 21 Δεκεμβρίου 1885 Ο Γενικώτερος Διευθυντής Ο Ταμίας της Τραπέζης Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ld. London |
| 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 |
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.