Catalog
5 Dracme Italian occupation
| Issuer | Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per la Grecia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Drachmai (5 δρᾰχμαί) |
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| Obverse description | Left vignette presents an intaglio-engraved bust of Alexander the Great in three-quarter view, rendered in classical sculptural style against a guilloche underprint. To the right, the denomination "5" appears in large numerals within a fine-line rosette background, flanked by bilingual text in Italian and Greek. The note is framed by a decorative foliate border with palmette motifs repeated along all four edges. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette presents a bas-relief intaglio scene of three male figures in classical Hellenic style, the central figure gesturing toward the others, set within a ruled rectangular frame. Flanking the central panel are two large numeral "5" denominators, each surrounded by radiating guilloche rosette patterns. The border repeats the palmette frieze design found on the obverse, and serial number panels appear at the lower left and lower right. |
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| Comments |
The Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per la Grecia was a puppet financial institution established by the Italian occupation authorities in 1941 specifically to manage currency in occupied Greece — a parallel banking structure designed to extract resources while insulating the Italian lira from the inflationary consequences of occupation spending. Notes issued through it were legal tender in the occupied zone but had no backing and no convertibility worth speaking of.
At 80 × 51 mm, this is among the smallest denominations in the Cassa Mediterranea series, and the low face value made it a workhorse of everyday transactions during a period of catastrophic hyperinflation. Greece's wartime inflation became one of the worst in recorded history; by 1944, a single gold sovereign was trading for billions of drachmai.