500 Drachmai 1932 Punch Holes 1941

This is the 1932-dated 500 Drachmai note, reissued under Axis occupation conditions by the simple expedient of punch-cancellation — three holes driven through the note to withdraw it from legal tender status while simultaneously permitting controlled reuse during the currency chaos of 1941. The practice was an administrative stopgap, not a planned reissue program.

The American Bank Note Company had printed the original series well before the occupation. By 1941, fresh supply from New York was impossible, so existing stocks were mutilated and redistributed rather than destroyed.