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250 Drachmai Half of 500 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
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| Currency | First modern drachma (1832-1944) |
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| Obverse description | This note consists of the left half of a bisected 500 Drachmai note (P-33) of the National Bank of Greece, used as a 250 Drachmai emergency issue in 1922. The visible half of the obverse carries the Greek royal coat of arms — a crowned shield bearing a white cross, supported by two classical figures — alongside the issuer's name in Greek capitals (ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΓΕΖ…) and a large guilloche medallion with the numeral 500. A serial number in red and multiple manuscript signatures appear in the lower right portion, with a denomination panel reading ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ Τ… partly visible at right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The right half of the reverse of the original 500 Drachmai note serves as the reverse of this bisected emergency issue. The surviving portion displays a large ornate guilloche frame of lathe-work in concentric scalloped borders, enclosing the numeral 500 at centre. Partial text reading NATIONALE and additional decorative numerals 500 appear at the upper left margin, with the imprint of the American Bank Note Company, New York, visible along the lower edge. |
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| Comments |
In 1922, Greece was in the middle of the catastrophic Asia Minor campaign — military expenditure had overwhelmed the treasury, and the government needed currency fast. Rather than commission an entirely new print run, the authorities took existing 500 Drachmai notes from circulation, cut them in half vertically, and declared each half legal tender for 250 Drachmai. The left half retained Pick #62a status; the right half, #62b. It was a forced loan dressed up as monetary policy.
ABNC had printed the parent 500 Drachmai notes years earlier. The Greek government's solution cost almost nothing to implement — the cutting was done by the bank itself, not in New York.