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50 Drachmai
| Issuer | National Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait vignette of Georgios Stavros set within an oval guilloche frame at left, printed in dark green on a multicolour underprint of interlacing rosette and lathe-work patterns in blue and orange. The numeral '50' appears in a central guilloche cartouche at centre-right, with the denomination in Greek script below and the date and place of issue inscribed beneath. Three manuscript signatures appear at the foot, attributed respectively to the Treasurer, the Governor, and the Royal Commissioner, with the printer's imprint 'AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY' at the base. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central oval vignette rendered in intaglio presents a three-quarter profile bust of the Hermes of Praxiteles, the ancient marble sculpture, set against a dark engine-turned background. Flanking the vignette on either side are elaborate symmetrical guilloche rosette panels incorporating the numeral '50' in multiple positions, all printed in dark olive-green over a pale blue and violet lathe-work underprint. The issuing authority's title is inscribed in a panel at the top, the edition designation 'ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΗ' appears at the base, and the printer's imprint 'AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY' is printed below the lower border. |
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| Comments |
Greece in 1923 was absorbing over a million refugees from Anatolia following the population exchange mandated by the Convention of Lausanne — the monetary system was under acute strain, and the National Bank was issuing notes at a pace domestic printers could not sustain. Contracting the American Bank Note Company was a practical solution to an immediate logistical problem, not a statement of prestige.
The ABNC's intaglio work on Greek issues of this period is competent but relatively plain by their standards. Pick 75 is not among the rarer survivors of the series, though notes that passed through refugee hands in this period often show hard use.