50 Drachmai punch holes

Greece fell under Axis occupation in April 1941, and the collaborationist administration inherited a currency problem immediately. Notes that had been printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York — and which were en route or in reserve when the occupation began — could not be safely released into a German-controlled economy. The punch-hole cancellation was the Bank of Greece's method of formally demonetizing these notes before they could circulate, or be seized and used by occupying forces.

The ABNCo printing contract predates the occupation; these were legitimate wartime reserve stocks, not emergency issues. Cancelled survivors exist in greater numbers than uncancelled examples from this print run.