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50 Drachmai Italian occupation
| Issuer | Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per la Grecia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Large numeral '50' set within an oval guilloche underprint at centre, surrounded by an elaborate intaglio border incorporating Greek key meander patterns along the top and bottom edges, palmette and anthemion ornamental motifs on the lateral panels, and acanthus scroll decorations at the corners. The denomination '50' also appears in each corner of the outer frame. |
| Reverse lettering | 50 |
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| Comments |
The Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per la Grecia was a purpose-built occupation institution, established by Italy in 1941 specifically to extract economic value from occupied Greece through a parallel currency system. Notes like this one were exchanged at a rate heavily disadvantageous to the Greek population, effectively functioning as a mechanism for requisitioning goods and labor without direct payment. The same institutional model had already been deployed in Libya and East Africa.
Greece's occupation-era hyperinflation — among the worst of the war — was partly fueled by exactly this kind of parallel issuance. By late 1944, the drachma had collapsed to a point requiring a complete redenomination.