When Italy invaded Greece in October 1940, the existing currency infrastructure came under immediate strain. This note was printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York for the Bank of Greece, part of a broader effort to maintain supply ahead of the Axis occupation that followed in April 1941. The punch cancellation — not a defacement but a deliberate demonetization procedure — indicates this example was officially withdrawn from circulation rather than redeemed through normal channels.
Cancelled remainders from this series occasionally surface with the holes misread as damage. They are not.
When Italy invaded Greece in October 1940, the existing currency infrastructure came under immediate strain. This note was printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York for the Bank of Greece, part of a broader effort to maintain supply ahead of the Axis occupation that followed in April 1941. The punch cancellation — not a defacement but a deliberate demonetization procedure — indicates this example was officially withdrawn from circulation rather than redeemed through normal channels.
Cancelled remainders from this series occasionally surface with the holes misread as damage. They are not.