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10 000 000 Drachmai
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Brown and dark brown note centred on a large guilloche numeral '10' flanked by ornate scrollwork vignettes, with the denomination ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ and ΛΕΚΑ ΕΚΑΤΟΜΜΥΡΙΑ lettered above and below respectively. A dark brown interlaced border frames the design on all four sides, with corner numerals '10' repeated in the side margins. The serial number is printed in red at upper centre, flanked by prefix letters, with the payment clause and two manuscript signatures appearing below the central guilloche. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 10 ΕΚΑΤΟΜΜΥΡΙΑ ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΠΡΩΤΗ (Translation: Bank of Greece 10 000 000 Drachmai First issue) |
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| Comments |
This note belongs to the terminal phase of the Axis occupation hyperinflation, one of the most severe currency collapses in modern European history. By late 1944, Greek prices were doubling every few days, and the Bank of Greece was printing increasingly astronomical denominations just to keep pace with daily transactions. The 10,000,000 drachmai note was not an outlier — it was a practical necessity.
Printed domestically under occupation conditions, the Athens works were operating under severe material constraints. The series culminated shortly before liberation in October 1944, after which the new Allied-backed currency authority replaced the entire drachmai series at a rate of 50 billion old drachmai to one new drachma.