Catalog
5000 Drachmai
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1928 |
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| Currency | First modern drachma (1832-1944) |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of Georgios Stavros in portrait, set against a classical frieze from the south side of the Parthenon in Athens, rendered above and illustrating a Panathenaic procession. A red overprint bearing the new bank name appears above the portrait. Border elements frame the composition in an engraved style typical of American Bank Note Company production. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central vignette of an ancient quadriga — a chariot drawn by four horses — rendered in an engraved classical style, flanked on both sides by the denomination value. The overall layout follows a symmetrical horizontal arrangement characteristic of early twentieth-century Greek banknote design. |
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| Comments |
The 1928 Greek drachma series, of which this 5000 Drachmai is the highest denomination, was issued following the currency stabilization program overseen by the League of Nations Financial Committee — the same intervention that had earlier rescued Austria and Hungary. Greece's fiscal crisis of the mid-1920s, compounded by the massive population displacement after the 1922 Greco-Turkish War, had left the drachma in freefall. The new series was intended to signal restored confidence.
ABNC's involvement was typical of the period, when several European central banks turned to American security printers precisely because domestic printing infrastructure was either compromised or insufficiently trusted by foreign creditors monitoring the stabilization agreements.