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10 Neai Drachmai
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Drachmai (10 GRD) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in olive-brown and pale green tones, with a finely engraved intaglio vignette of a classical sculptural bust of Hesiod set within an oval frame at the right. The denomination numeral '10' appears in large figures at the left, flanked by guilloche border panels, while the legend 'ΔΕΚΑ ΝΕΑΙ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ' is inscribed in bold letterpress across the centre. A zero-zero serial number 'Α 000000' in red identifies this as a trial piece, with two facsimile signature pairs and the payable-at-Athens clause printed below the central text. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is executed in brown, green and pale blue, dominated by a large central guilloche rosette from which the bold numeral '10' emerges in blue intaglio. A horizontal band with a Greek-key meander border runs across the centre bearing the legend 'ΔΕΚΑ ΝΕΑΙ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ', while intricate engine-turned lathe-work fills the field above and below with interlocking rope and scroll patterns. The issuer's name appears at the top, and the numeral '10' is repeated in the lower corners. |
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| Comments |
The "Nea Drachma" — literally "new drachma" — was introduced in 1954 as part of a monetary revaluation that exchanged old drachmai at a rate of 1,000 to 1, a direct consequence of the catastrophic inflation Greece had endured since the Axis occupation of the early 1940s. This note was printed in advance of that reform, dated 1953, to be ready at the moment of changeover.
Thomas De La Rue handled the entire series. The "C" suffix in the Pick reference denotes a signature variety, one of several issued across a relatively short window before the drachma was again revised in subsequent decades.