Catalog
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| Issuer | Bank of Greece |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5000 ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 5000 Βʹ ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ ΠΕΝΤΕ ΧΙΛΙΑΔΕΣ ΠΛΗΡΩΤΕΑΙ ΕΠΙ ΤΗ. ΕΜΦΑΝΙΣΕΙ ΕΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΣ ΤΗ. 20η ΙΟΥΝΙΟΥ 1942 Ο ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΗΣ ΟΙ ΔΙΕΥΘΥΝΤΑΙ 5000 5000 (Translation: 5000 Bank of Greece 5000 Second issue Five thousand drachmai Payable on demand In Athens on the 20th of June 1942 The commander The directors 5000 5000) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 5000 ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 5000 ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑ (Translation: 5000 Bank of Greece 5000 Second issue) |
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| Comments |
Greece in 1942 was under Axis occupation, and the Bank of Greece was forced to issue notes at an accelerating pace to fund occupation costs demanded by Germany and Italy. The result was hyperinflation of catastrophic speed — by 1944, the drachma had collapsed so completely that this 5,000-drachmai note, a substantial denomination when printed, was effectively worthless within two years of issue.
Korogiannakis was one of the Bank of Greece's own engravers, and the note was produced domestically under occupation conditions rather than by one of the major foreign security printers the Bank had relied upon before the war.