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| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio on red, teal, and yellow multicolour underprint. A vignette of the Nymph Deidamia appears at left, with the denomination value and authorising signatures positioned at centre. The face bears the issuing authority title, serial number, date of issue, and the written denomination in Greek script. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 25.000 25.000 ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑ ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΠΡΩΤΗ (Translation: Bank of Greece 25000 25000 Olympia First issue) |
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| Comments |
This note belongs to the extreme inflationary sequence Greece endured under Axis occupation, when the occupying powers — Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria — requisitioned Greek resources and forced the Bank of Greece to cover the resulting deficits by printing. The 1943 issues escalated rapidly in face value, and 25,000 drachmai, a sum that would have been unthinkable before the war, was already insufficient for basic transactions within months of issue.
Printed domestically under occupation conditions, the quality of production reflects the material constraints of the period. Greece's wartime hyperinflation ultimately required a currency reform in November 1944, at a conversion rate of 50 billion old drachmai to one new drachma.