German issued Greek currency, 1,000,000 Drachmai note
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm)
Creator(s)
- Trapeza te?s Hellados (Issuer)
Archival History
The currency was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Joel Forman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joel Forman
Scope and Content
German-issued Greek National currency valued at 1 million Drachmai. The Greek currency, called Drachma, can be traced back to the 6th century BC. The currency was discontinued after the Roman conquest of Greece, and reissued after Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. Many of the Greek notes featured figures and images from Greek Mythology and history. Featured on the face is an image of the head of the Antikythera Ephebe (also known as the Antikythera Youth), a bronze statue of a young man discovered in 1900 by sponge-divers off the island of Antikythera, Greece. The reverse features an image of the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon at the Cape of Sounion. On April 6, 1941, Germany invaded Greece to support Italy and forced the Greeks to surrender by the end of the month. Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria collectively occupied Greece until Italy’s surrender to the Allies in September 1943. Then Germany occupied all of Greece, and forced the Greek government to pay for the occupation by printing more paper money with higher denominations. The excess Drachmai caused hyperinflation, and the price for goods and services rose dramatically. During the occupation, the price of corn was 9 million Drachmai per pound. The essentially worthless paper bills gave way to bartering of supplies such as olive oil, cigarettes, and wheat. Due to the invasion and the harsh economic policies, hundreds of thousands of Greeks died from lack of food during the German occupation.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Greek currency printed on lightweight, off-white rectangular paper. On the left, the face features an image of a bust of the Antikythera Youth, a young man with short, curly hair. To the right are several lines of black, Greek text and the numeric denomination. The serial number is stamped above in red. The text is framed by a rounded, rectangular shape with black, undulating edges made up of sinuous, intersecting green and black lines in a latticework design. Both features are overlaid on a green and light yellow background of geometric shapes and short lines, with a black scrollwork border. In each corner, the denomination is printed in black. The reverse features a centered image depicting the columns of the Temple of Poseidon ruins in Sounion, Greece. The image is flanked by the numeric denomination and two lines of small, Greek text overlaid on thin, black scrollwork lines. These are overlaid on a blue, wide geometric ribbon decorated with sinuous intersecting white lines. The background is a repeating geometric pattern of blue diamond shapes and white circles surrounded by a stepped, rounded, exterior border.
face, center, stamped, red ink : ΙΑ 176796
Subjects
- Banks and banking.
- Greece.
- Paper money--Greece--History.
- Greece--History--Occupation, 1941-1944.
- Greece--Economic conditions--1918-1974.
Genre
- Money.
- Object
- Exchange Media