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5 Lepta
| Issuer | Cretan State |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1.11 mm |
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| Obverse description | A large royal crown with pearled arches and a globus cruciger finial occupies the central field, rendered in fine relief. The curved legend ΚΡΗΤΙΚΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΑ arcs along the upper periphery in Greek capitals, identifying the issuing authority as the State of Crete. The date 1900 is prominently displayed in the lower field beneath the crown. The engraver's signature A. ΒΟΡΡΕΛ appears incuse on a small tablet directly below the crown. The design is framed by a continuous beaded border following the coin's circumference. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
The Cretan State was a short-lived autonomous entity created in 1898 under Ottoman suzerainty following intervention by the Great Powers — Britain, France, Russia, and Italy — each of whom occupied a separate administrative zone on the island. Prince George of Greece was appointed High Commissioner, and the state issued its own currency almost immediately as a practical assertion of administrative independence. This 1900 issue was among the first coins struck for the new entity, produced at a moment when Crete's political trajectory toward union with Greece was already widely assumed, even if not yet formally achieved — enosis would not come until 1913.