Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Drachmai
| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΠΕΝΤΗΚΟΝΤΑ ΠΛΗΡΩΤΕΑΙ ΕΠΙ ΤΗ ΕΜΦΑΝΙΣΕΙ ΕΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΣ ΤΗ 9° ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 1944 Ο ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ ΟΙ ΔΙΕΥΘΥΝΤΑΙ |
| Reverse description | Brown on light grey underprint, with a central vignette of a phoenix rising from flames, wings spread wide and head raised, set within a radiating sunburst guilloche. The denomination numeral '50' appears in large format within ornate guilloche panels at left and right. The bank title ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ is inscribed at the top, and the inscription ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΗ (Fourth Issue) appears at the bottom center. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
This note belongs to the hyperinflationary collapse of the Axis occupation period, when the Greek money supply was being expanded to fund occupation costs — by late 1944, the drachma had become essentially worthless, with the exchange rate against the Reichsmark spiraling beyond any rational calculation. The Bank of Greece was compelled to issue denominations in rapid succession, each one obsolete almost before it reached circulation.
Post-liberation, the November 1944 currency reform wiped out holders: new drachmai were exchanged at 50 billion old to one. This 50-drachmai note, worth a fraction of a pfennig at collapse, was among the lower denominations still in nominal use during the final months.