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25 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1897-1900 |
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| Printer | Waterlow & Sons Limited, United Kingdom (1810-1961) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 25 25 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΕΙΚΟΣΙΠΕΝΤΕ 25 Έν Άθήναις τή. Πληρωτέαι έπι τῇ έμφανισει ΤΑΜΙΑΣ ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ ΒΑΣ. ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΟΣ (Translation: National Bank of Greece 25 25 Twenty-five Drachmai 25 In Athens on (date) Payable on presentation TREASURER GOVERNOR ROYAL COMMISSIONER) |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue and centres on an oval vignette of a classical female bust in profile facing left, enclosed within a fine-line engine-turned border. The surrounding field is filled with intricate guilloche rosettes and lathe-work patterns arranged symmetrically, with the bank name arching across the upper portion and the denomination legend curving along the lower register. The printer's imprint appears in small text at the lower right margin. |
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| Comments |
The National Bank of Greece leaned heavily on Waterlow & Sons throughout the late nineteenth century, a relationship driven by cost and reliability rather than any particular design ambition. This series was produced during a period of acute fiscal stress: Greece had defaulted on its external debt in 1893 and by 1897 was fighting — and losing — a brief war with the Ottoman Empire, after which an International Financial Commission was imposed on Athens to supervise state revenues directly.
Paper quality in surviving examples from this issue tends to be brittle at the folds, a known characteristic of Waterlow's stock used for Greek issues of this period rather than a circulation problem specific to any individual note.