Catalog
5 Drachmai Half of 10 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885-1910 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΔΕΚΑ ΤΑΜΙΑΣ ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΟΣ American Bank Note Co. New York |
| Reverse description | The reverse, printed in red-brown intaglio, presents a pastoral allegory on the right half: a seated female figure in classical drapery rests among sheep and a goat against a lightly engraved landscape background. To the left, two large guilloche rosettes bearing the numeral 10 are interlaced within an elaborate lathe-work border. The lower register carries a repeating microtext underprint with the word ΔΕΚΑ, partially overprinted with a large blue cancellation stamp, and the imprint AMERICAN BANK NOTE CO. appears along the bottom edge. |
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| Comments |
This note is precisely what its name describes: a halved 10 Drachmai note, physically cut in two and reissued as a 5 Drachmai denomination. The practice was an emergency measure, not an oversight — Greece's chronic shortage of small-denomination currency in the late 19th century forced the National Bank to authorize bisection as official policy, with each half carrying legal tender status independently.
The ABNC-printed parent note was designed for a very different purpose, and the cut line was never standardized. Surviving halves vary considerably in where the scissors fell.