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1 Drachma Ionian Bank Limited
| Issuer | Ionian Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio vignette of Athena at left, shown in profile wearing a crested helmet, rendered in dark engraved style against a guilloche underprint. The bank title ΙΟΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ LIMITED appears at top centre, with the denomination ΔΡΑΧΜΗ ΜΙΑ in bold letters within an ornate guilloche cartouche at centre right. Date and two manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, with the imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London along the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΙΟΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ LIMITED ΔΡΑΧΜΗ ΜΙΑ Nόμος ΑΤΜΙΡάπό 21 Δεκεμβρίου 1885 Bradbury Wilkinson & Co London |
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| Comments |
The Ionian Bank was a British-chartered institution operating primarily in the Ionian Islands and, after their 1864 cession to Greece, continuing under Greek sovereignty with its original London charter intact. That legal peculiarity — a British joint-stock bank issuing drachma-denominated notes under Greek monetary law — gave the bank an unusual dual existence that lasted well into the twentieth century.
Bradbury Wilkinson handled the printing throughout the bank's note-issuing period. The 1 Drachma denomination was the workhorse of small retail transactions and was consequently subject to heavy wear; surviving examples in sound condition are disproportionately rare relative to higher denominations from the same series.