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20 Drachmai - George II Restoration of the Monarchy, Pattern
| Issuer | Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
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| Reference(s) | KM#Pn59 |
| Obverse description | Bare-headed effigy of King George II facing left, rendered in high relief with fine detail to the facial features and hair. The circular legend around the periphery reads ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ Β! ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΤΩΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΩΝ, identifying the king as George II, King of the Greeks. The commemorative date 25 ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ 1935, referring to the restoration of the monarchy, appears along the lower arc of the coin. The portrait occupies a broad, unadorned field, characteristic of the restrained classical style employed for this pattern issue. |
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| Reverse description | The denomination 20 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ is boldly inscribed in two lines at the centre of the field, surmounted by a royal crown at the top. The central motif is enclosed within a wreath of olive branches tied with a ribbon bow at the base, a traditional Hellenic design element. The overall composition is symmetrical and heraldic in character, consistent with the pattern coinage produced for the restored Greek monarchy. |
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| Additional information |
Greece's 1940 coinage program was effectively stillborn. The Metaxas dictatorship had been issuing aluminum-bronze circulating coinage through the late 1930s, but by mid-1940 the Italian invasion had upended any plans for new production. This copper pattern for a 20 Drachmai piece commemorating George II's 1935 restoration — itself the product of a rigged plebiscite that returned the king after a decade of republican government — never advanced beyond the trial stage.
KM#Pn59 is one of several pattern strikes documented from this period, almost certainly produced at the Athens mint before operations were disrupted by occupation.