Catalog
50 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Reverse description | Central vignette of Athena rendered in intaglio relief, the goddess shown standing in full figure with helmet and spear, flanked on either side by large denominational numerals «50» set within elaborate guilloche rosettes. A Greek key border frames the entire design, with the bank title «ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ» across the top and the series inscription «ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΠΕΜΠΤΗ» along the lower margin. The printer's imprint of Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. appears at the bottom edge. |
| Reverse lettering | ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΠΕΜΠΤΗ 50 |
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| Comments |
The National Bank of Greece had been the country's sole issuer for decades, but 1926 was not a stable year for that arrangement — a military coup in June brought Pangalos to power, and monetary reform pressure was intensifying from the League of Nations, which would within a year compel the establishment of the Bank of Greece as a separate central bank. This note belongs to the last years of the old order.
Bradbury Wilkinson's intaglio work on Greek issues of this period is consistently fine, their New Malden facility handling a substantial volume of Southern European government contracts through the interwar years.