2 Drachmai

Greece entered World War I on the Allied side in June 1917 following the forced abdication of King Constantine I — a political rupture that created immediate pressure on the treasury. This 2 Drachmai note was part of a low-denomination emergency issue intended to ease coin shortages that had become acute as hoarding accelerated during the national schism between Venizelists and royalists.

Bradbury Wilkinson handled the printing in London, as they did for several Greek issues of this period. The arrangement was logistically straightforward given Greece's limited domestic printing capacity at the time.