Catalog
20 Drachmai - George I 1st portrait - Pattern
| Issuer | Kingdom of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | The crowned royal arms of Greece occupy the central field, comprising a quartered shield bearing the Greek cross in white and blue, supported on either side by two crouching lions and draped with an ermine-lined royal mantle surmounted by a royal crown. A scroll beneath the shield bears the motto ΙΣΧΥΣ ΜΟΥ Η ΑΓΑΠΗ ΤΟΥ ΛΑΟΥ (MY POWER THE LOVE OF THE PEOPLE). The legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ curves along the upper periphery, while the denomination 20 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ is inscribed prominently along the lower arc. Small stars serve as separators in the legend, and the whole is enclosed within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Greece's 1869 gold coinage was struck at Paris under the Latin Monetary Union framework, which Greece had joined in 1868. This particular piece is a pattern — KM#E11 — produced to evaluate the first portrait type of George I, the Danish-born king installed by the protecting powers in 1863 after the deposition of Otto. The transition mattered: Otto's coinage had carried his own effigy for decades, and establishing George's portrait on the gold denominations required official Parisian approval of the dies before regular production could proceed.
Very few examples are documented. Fr#8 confirms its standing in the Friedberg gold reference, though auction appearances remain rare.