Catalog
20 Drachmai
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 20 Β48 130445 20 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΕΙΚΟΣΙ ΠΛΗΡΩΤΕΑΙ ΕΠΙ ΤΗ. ΕΜΦΑΝΙΣΕΙ ΕΝ ΑΘΝΑΙΣ ΤΗ. 6Η ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΥ 1940 Ο ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΣ ΤΩΝ ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΚΟΝ ΝΟΜΟΣ 2155 ΤΗΣ 12η ΔΕΚΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ 1939 ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ 20 20 (Translation: 20 Kingdom of Greece 20 B48 130445 (serial number) 20 Twenty drachmai Paid on demand In Athens on the 6th of April 1940 Minister of Finance (signature unknown) Law 2155, 12th of December 1939 Poseidon 20 20) |
| Reverse description | Indigo intaglio printing over a green underprint. A central vignette presents a view of the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis, framed by a classical meander guilloche border. The printer's imprint appears at the lower margin, and denomination numerals are repeated in each corner. |
| 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 still at peace when this note was printed, but only just. Mussolini's ultimatum arrived in October 1940, and the Italian invasion followed hours later. Notes from this print run entered circulation against a backdrop of immediate wartime disruption, with the Bank of Greece soon under severe pressure to manage a currency that would ultimately be destroyed by Axis occupation inflation — among the worst hyperinflationary episodes of the twentieth century.
Giesecke & Devrient's Leipzig facility printed for numerous European central banks through the late interwar period. The same plant would be printing Reichsmark issues within months of this order.