Greece's post-WWI finances were in serious disorder by 1921, with the country simultaneously funding the catastrophic Asia Minor Campaign against Kemalist forces. The 50 Lepta coinage of this period was struck in copper-nickel largely because silver had become too expensive to commit to small denominations under wartime fiscal pressure. Within two years, the Greek military collapse at Smyrna and the subsequent population exchange would trigger monetary chaos severe enough to suspend normal coin production entirely.
Greece's post-WWI finances were in serious disorder by 1921, with the country simultaneously funding the catastrophic Asia Minor Campaign against Kemalist forces. The 50 Lepta coinage of this period was struck in copper-nickel largely because silver had become too expensive to commit to small denominations under wartime fiscal pressure. Within two years, the Greek military collapse at Smyrna and the subsequent population exchange would trigger monetary chaos severe enough to suspend normal coin production entirely.