Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Drachmai
| Issuer | Kingdom of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 2 Drachmai |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in reddish-brown and presents a central vignette of a seated allegorical female figure holding a lyre, flanked by guilloche rosettes bearing the numeral 2 on each side. The inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ arches across the top, while the denomination ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΔΥΟ appears in a solid panel at the foot of the note. A serial number and date reference to the law of 27 October 1917 are inscribed in the central field, with two facsimile signatures and the printer's imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London along the lower border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in blue-green and centres on the Royal Arms of Greece — a crowned escutcheon bearing the white cross on blue, supported by two standing classical figures — set within a circular frame with the motto ΙΣΧΥΣ ΜΟΥ Η ΑΓΑΠΗ ΤΟΥ ΛΑΟΥ. The numeral 2 appears in large format within guilloche ovals on either side of the central medallion. A bold anti-counterfeiting legend in Greek runs across the lower panel within a rectangular border of fine geometric latticework. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Greece entered World War I on the Allied side in June 1917 following the forced abdication of King Constantine I — a political rupture that created immediate pressure on the treasury. This 2 Drachmai note was part of a low-denomination emergency issue intended to ease coin shortages that had become acute as hoarding accelerated during the national schism between Venizelists and royalists.
Bradbury Wilkinson handled the printing in London, as they did for several Greek issues of this period. The arrangement was logistically straightforward given Greece's limited domestic printing capacity at the time.