Object ID
F2014.54
Object Name
Currency
Date Created
1940
Material
Paper
Object Description
Greek 10 drachmas bill:
Obverse: brown and green background with a picture of the head of Demeter on the left side over stalks of wheat.. The rest is written in Greek- "The Kingdom of Greece, the value of 10 drachmas- payble on show in Athens April 6th, 1940." The bill is numbered as 113802. No. 2155 as of December 12th 1939.
Reverse: printed in light brown ink with a blue border. The heading in the border says "The Kingdom of Greece." In the middle of the bill is the depiction of the Leipzig in Germany. This is bordered by two large number 10s. The Greek text underneith this symbol is a warning not to falsify or duplicate the bill.
Origin
Greece went through its worst inflation in 1944. In 1942, the highest denomination was 50,000 drachmai. By 1944, the highest denomination was 100,000,000,000 drachmai. In the 1944 currency reform, 1 new drachma was exchanged for 50,000,000,000 drachmai. Another currency reform in 1953 replaced the drachma at an exchange rate of 1 new drachma = 1,000 old drachmai. The overall impact of hyperinflation: 1 (1953) drachma = 50,000,000,000,000 pre 1944 drachmai. The Greek monthly inflation rate reached 8.5 billion percent in October 1944.

Start and End Date: May 1941- Dec. 1945
Peak Month and Rate of Inflation: Nov. 1944, 13,800%
Rights and Reproduction
The content on this site is made available for research and education purposes only. The use of these materials may be restricted by law or the donor.

Any other use, such as exhibition, publication, or commercial use, is not allowed except by written permission in accordance with the NHM Image Rights and Reproduction Policy.

For questions on image rights and reproduction, please contact nhmcollections@hellenicmuseum.org
Citation
Currency, 1940, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/10489. Accessed 03/28/24.