25 000 Drachmai Agricultural Treasury Bond, second issue

Greece's wartime occupation governments issued Treasury bonds as a mechanism to extract purchasing power from the economy under Axis administration. By 1943, hyperinflation was already accelerating at a rate that made conventional banknote printing inadequate — the drachma was collapsing in real time, and denominations were scaling faster than presses could be retooled.

Agricultural Treasury Bonds occupied an unusual hybrid position: technically debt instruments, practically currency. The "second issue" designation distinguishes this series from the earlier 1942 agricultural bond program, reflecting how quickly successive emergency measures were exhausted.

Pick 139 is among the higher denominations of this short-lived instrument class, which became worthless within months as inflation rendered even five-figure sums trivial.