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50 Drachmai Half of 100 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The right half of the bisected 100 Drachmai note forms the reverse of this emergency issue. A detailed intaglio vignette of the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis occupies the left portion, rendered in fine line engraving against a lightly shaded background. To the right, a large central guilloche rosette contains the numeral '100', flanked by ornate lathe-work patterns in purple and orange-brown; the lower margin carries the inscriptions 'DE GRECE' and 'ΔΕΚΑΤΗ', with the printer's imprint 'AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY' at bottom left. |
| Reverse lettering | DE GRECE ΔΕΚΑΤΗ 100 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY |
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| Comments |
Greece's currency crisis of 1922 was severe enough to require a solution as blunt as scissors. The government ordered holders of 100 Drachmai notes to physically bisect them — each half was then restamped and declared legal tender for 50 Drachmai, while the other half was surrendered to the state as a forced loan. It was a compulsory borrowing scheme disguised as monetary reform.
The ABNCo plates had been prepared in New York well before the crisis. The emergency bisection arrangement was entirely a Greek government decision, imposed on notes already in circulation — the printer had no hand in it.