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5 Phoenix
| Issuer | National Bank Commission (Εθνική Τράπεζα Επιτροπή), Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1831 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Horizontal note printed in terracotta-red on cream paper, enclosed within a rectangular border of repetitive geometric and interlocking guilloche ornaments. The denomination appears in large Greek capital letters across the upper portion, flanked by a central decorative vignette, with a multi-line Greek-language text body setting out the legal tender clause and place of issue (Aegina, 1 July 1831). The serial number appears in manuscript at the lower left, with two handwritten signatures at the lower right under the issuing authority inscription. |
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| Obverse lettering | ΦΟΙΝΙΚΕΣ ΠΕΝΤΕ Εν Αίγινη τη α. Ιουλίου 1831. Η επί της Εθνικής Τραπέζης Επιτροπή Αριθμός Τραπέζης 49472 |
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| Comments |
The Phoenix was Greece's first national currency, introduced by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1828 as the newly independent state sought to establish basic financial infrastructure after nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule. The National Bank Commission — a provisional body rather than a proper central bank — issued these notes against extremely limited reserves, and public confidence was fragile from the outset. Kapodistrias himself was assassinated in October 1831, the same year this note was issued, and the currency collapsed shortly afterward when the Bavarian regency abolished the Phoenix entirely in 1832, replacing it with the Drachma.
Survivors are extraordinarily rare. The short window of legitimate circulation, combined with active redemption and destruction under the new monetary regime, accounts for that scarcity.