500 Drachmai

The 500 Drachmai notes of this series were issued during one of the most turbulent monetary periods in modern Greek history. The catastrophic 1922 defeat in Asia Minor triggered a massive influx of refugees — over a million displaced Greeks — whose resettlement required emergency financing that pushed the National Bank deep into inflationary territory. These notes circulated alongside a currency that was rapidly losing purchasing power throughout the mid-1920s.

Bradbury Wilkinson's engraving quality is notably fine for an economy under this kind of fiscal strain. The commission itself reflects how heavily Greek governments of the period relied on established British security printers when domestic production capacity was insufficient.