Greece in 1923 was absorbing over a million refugees from Anatolia following the population exchange mandated by the Convention of Lausanne — a demographic catastrophe that strained the National Bank's reserves severely. The 500 Drachmai denomination was substantial for the period, and commissioning the American Bank Note Company reflected both the exhaustion of domestic printing capacity and the political priority of issuing notes that would be difficult to counterfeit during a period of extreme fiscal pressure.
ABNC's engraved intaglio work on Greek issues of this era is among the finer commercial security printing of the decade. The plate quality holds up even on heavily circulated survivors.
Greece in 1923 was absorbing over a million refugees from Anatolia following the population exchange mandated by the Convention of Lausanne — a demographic catastrophe that strained the National Bank's reserves severely. The 500 Drachmai denomination was substantial for the period, and commissioning the American Bank Note Company reflected both the exhaustion of domestic printing capacity and the political priority of issuing notes that would be difficult to counterfeit during a period of extreme fiscal pressure.
ABNC's engraved intaglio work on Greek issues of this era is among the finer commercial security printing of the decade. The plate quality holds up even on heavily circulated survivors.