Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1928 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 150 × 75 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central intaglio vignette of Georgios Stavros in three-quarter portrait, set within an oval frame flanked by large numeral '50' panels on either side, all framed by engraved neoclassical columns with fine guilloche borders. Serial numbers appear at upper left and lower right, with the red overprint of the new bank name 'ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ' diagonally across the upper portion. Three signature lines for Ο ΤΑΜΙΑΣ, Ο ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ, and Ο ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΟΣ appear below the central cartouche, with imprint of American Bank Note Company at foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Large central numeral '50' in guilloche underprint, flanked by two ancient coin vignettes in intaglio: at left, a coin inscribed 'ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ' bearing a classical head, and at right, a coin inscribed 'ΑΣΚΛΗΠΙΟΣ' with a seated figure. A rectangular panel at top bears the bank name, and the sixth issue designation 'ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΕΚΤΗ' is inscribed below the central motif, with the denomination '50' repeated at lower left and right. A red diagonal overprint appears across the upper portion of the note. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The National Bank of Greece turned to the American Bank Note Company for this series during a period of acute monetary instability following Greece's catastrophic defeat in Asia Minor and the mass population exchange with Turkey. The 1922–1928 stabilization effort, supported by the League of Nations, required the currency to project reliability — which partly explains the choice of an American printer with an international reputation for intaglio work over European alternatives Greece had previously used.
Pick 97 is one of the last notes issued under the National Bank of Greece's dual role as both commercial bank and central bank; the Bank of Greece took over note-issuing authority in 1928, the same year this note appeared.