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500 Drachmai Half of 1000 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | First modern drachma (1832-1944) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ 1000 ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ Πληρωτέαι επί τη εμφανίσει Ο ΤΑΜΙΑΣ Ο ΔΙΟΙ... |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 16 Δεκεμβρίου 1918 1000 ΑΘΗΝΗΣΙ BANQUE DE GRECE American Bank Note Co New York |
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| Comments |
This note exists because Greece was broke. Facing a severe currency shortage in 1922 — the same year the catastrophic defeat in Anatolia set off the population exchange with Turkey — the National Bank of Greece authorized the physical halving of existing 1000 Drachmai notes, each half then circulating as 500 Drachmai. The American Bank Note Company had printed the original 1000 Drachmai sheets; the cutting was done locally.
The right half and left half each carry a different portion of the serial number, which is how they were matched and authenticated. Finding a perfectly matched pair today is genuinely difficult.