5 Drachmai - George I 1st portrait - Pattern

This 1869 pattern was struck in Paris during negotiations over Greece's adoption of the Latin Monetary Union, which the country formally joined that same year. The LMU required member states to standardize gold coinage to specific fineness and weight specifications, and pattern pieces like this one were produced to test compliance with those parameters before committing to full production runs. Greece never issued this denomination in gold for circulation — the 5 drachmai remained a silver coin in practice.

KM#E9 is among several Greek pattern essays from this period tied to the first portrait of George I, struck before the obverse type was revised.