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Drachma, pl. drachmas or drachmae (δραχμή, pl. δραχμές or δραχμαί (until 1982)) is the name of:
- An ancient currency unit found in many Greek city states and successor states, and in many South-West Asian kingdoms of the Hellenistic era. Succession of states is a theory in International relations regarding the recognition and acceptance of a newly created State by other states based on Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period.
- Three modern Greek currencies, the first introduced in 1832 and the last replaced by the euro in 2001 (at the rate of 340. A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e 750 drachma to the euro). The euro did not begin circulating until 2002 but the exchange rate was fixed on 19 June 2000, with legal introduction of the euro taking place in January 2002. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
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Ancient drachma
The name drachma is derived from the verb "δράττω" (dratto, "to grasp"). [1] Initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of six oboloi (metal sticks), which were used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC. The obolus (or obol) is a Greek silver Coin worth a sixth of a Drachma. It was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name 'obol' was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma.
The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachmon ("four drachmae") coin was the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's The tetradrachm (τετράδραχμον was an Ancient Greek silver coin equivalent to four drachms It was in wide circulation from 510 to 38 BCE main - title Coin keywords numismatics coin review Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' It featured the helmeted profile bust of Athena on the obverse (front) and an owl on the reverse (back). ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. In daily use they were called γλαῦκαι glaukai (owls), hence the phrase Γλαῦκ’ Ἀθήναζε, 'an owl to Athens', referring to something that was in plentiful supply, like 'coals to Newcastle'. List of Greek Phrases/Proverbs Contents Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ The reverse is featured on the national side of the modern Greek 1 euro coin. Greek euro coins feature a unique design for each of the eight coins
Drachmas were minted on different weight standards at different Greek mints. The standard that came to be most commonly used was the Athenian or Attic one, which weighed a little over 4. 3 grams.
After Alexander the Great's conquests, the name drachma was used in many of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the Middle East, including the Ptolemaic kingdom in Alexandria. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια The Arabic unit of currency known as dirham (in the Arabic language, درهم), known from pre-Islamic times and afterwards, inherited its name from the drachma; the dirham is still the name of the official currencies of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) Dirham or dirhem (درهم is a unit of currency in several Arab nations and formerly the related unit of mass (the Ottoman dram) in the Ottoman Empire Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The dirham (درهم plural درهمان, دراهم or درهما is the currency of Morocco. The dirham (درهم ( sign: دإ; code: AED) is the currency of the United Arab Emirates. The Armenian dram also derives its name from the drachma. Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani The dram (Դրամ ISO 4217 code AMD) is the Monetary unit of Armenia.
Value of the ancient drachma
It is generally considered very hard or even meaningless to come up with comparative exchange rates with modern currency due to the fact that the range of products produced economies of centuries gone by were very different from today, which makes Purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations very difficult. The purchasing power parity ( PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium Exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their Purchasing power. However, some historians and economists have estimated that in the 5th century BC a drachma had a rough value of 25 U. S. dollars (in the year 1990 - equivalent to 40 USD in 2006[1]), whereas classical historians regularly say that in the heyday of ancient Greek (the fifth and fourth centuries) the daily wage for a skilled worker or a hoplite[2] was one drachma, and for a juror half a drachma. The word hoplite ( Greek: hoplitēs; pl hoplitai) derives from hoplon ( plural hopla) meaning an item of armour or equipment thus 'hoplite' A jury a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial Verdict (a finding of fact on a question officially submitted to them Xenophon claimed (in "On Revenues") that half a drachma was the minimum required to provide a comfortable subsistence. Xenophon (Ancient Greek, Modern Greek "Ξενοφών" "Ξενοφώντας" ca
As a rule of thumb, a modern person might think of one drachma as the rough equivalent of a skilled worker's daily pay in the place where they live (which could be as low as $1 USD, or as high as $100 USD, depending on the country). The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Thus, the idea of a 'handful of money' as used today and by the ancients (see above for etymology of 'drachma') pretty neatly coincide. Perhaps the most appropriate comparison is that with modern-day Athens, where a skilled worker without a university degree earns approximately 40 euro per day, net of taxes. Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e
Fractions and multiples of the drachma were minted by many states, most notably in Ptolemaic Egypt, which minted large coins in gold, silver and bronze. Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra
Notable Ptolemaic coins included the gold pentadrachm and octadrachm, and silver tetradrachm, decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm. This was especially noteworthy as it would not be until the introduction of the Guldengroschen in 1486 that coins of substantial size (particularly in silver) would be minted in significant quantities. The Guldengroschen was a large Silver Coin originally minted in Tirol in 1486.
For the Roman successors of the drachma, see Roman provincial coins. Roman Provincial coins are coins that were minted in the Roman Empire by civic authorities rather than by Imperial authorities
Historic currency divisions
- 8 chalkoi = 1 obolus
- 6 obolus = 1 drachma
- 100 drachma = 1 mina (or mna)
- 60 minae = 1 Athenian Talent (Athenian standard)[3]
Minae and talents were never actually minted: they represented weight measures used for commodities (e. The obolus (or obol) is a Greek silver Coin worth a sixth of a Drachma. The mina (or also mine) is an ancient Greek unit of weight defined as being 50 Shekels The mina like the shekel was also a unit of The mina (or also mine) is an ancient Greek unit of weight defined as being 50 Shekels The mina like the shekel was also a unit of The Attic talent was a unit of weight and a denomination of money equal to 6000 drachmae or 60 minae. g. grain) as well as metals like silver or gold.
Modern drachma
First modern drachma, 1832-1944
The drachma was reintroduced in 1832, soon after the establishment of the modern state of Greece. It replaced the phoenix at par. The phoenix ( Greek φοίνιξ was the first Currency of the modern Greek state The drachma was subdivided into 100 lepta (λεπτά, singular lepton, λεπτόν). Lepto redirects here "Lepto" is sometimes used as a shortened name for Leptospirosis.
Coins
The first coinage consisted of copper denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 lepta, silver denominations of ¼, ½, 1 and 5 drachmae and a gold 20 drachmae. The drachma coin weighed 4. 5 g and contained 90% silver, with the 20 drachmae coin containing 5. 8 g of gold.
In 1868, Greece joined the Latin Monetary Union and the drachma became equal in weight and value to the French franc. The Latin Monetary Union ( LMU) was a 19th century attempt to unify several European currencies into a single currency that could be The franc (represented by the franc sign ₣ or more commonly just F) is a former Currency of France. The new coinage issued consisted of copper 1, 2, 5 and 10 lepta coins (with the 5 lepta coin bearing the name obolos (οβολός) and the 10 lepta, diobolon (διώβολον)), silver coins of 20 and 50 lepta, 1, 2 and 5 drachmae and gold coins of 5, 10 and 20 drachmae. (Very small numbers of gold 50 and 100 drachmae coins were also issued. )
In 1894, cupro-nickel 5, 10 and 20 lepta coins were introduced, the 1 lepton and 2 lepta having not been issued since the late 1870s. Silver coins were last issued in 1911 and no coins were issued between 1912 and 1922, during which time the Latin Monetary Union collapsed due to the First World War. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All
Between 1926 and 1930, a new coinage was introduced, consisting of cupro-nickel 20 and 50 lepta, 1 and 2 drachmae, nickel 5 drachmae and silver 10 and 20 drachmae coins. These were the last coins issued for the first modern drachma, with none being issued for the second.
Notes
In 1841, notes were issued by the National Bank of Greece until 1928, when the Bank of Greece created and started production. Early denominations ranged from 10 up to 500 drachmae. Smaller denominations (1, 2 and 5 drachmae) were issued from 1885, with the first 5 drachmae notes being made by cutting 10 drachmae notes in half. Between 1917 and 1920, the Greek government issued paper money in denominations of 10 lepta, 50 lepta, 1, 2, and 5 drachmae. 1000 drachmae notes were introduced by the National Bank of Greece in 1901, followed by 5000 drachmae notes by the Bank of Greece after 1928. The Greek government again issued notes between 1940 and 1944, in denominations between 50 lepta and 20 drachmae.
During the German occupation of Greece (1941–1944), catastrophic hyperinflation and Nazi looting of the Greek treasury caused much higher denominations to be issued, culminating in 100 billion (1011) drachmae notes in 1944. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Certain figures in this article use Scientific notation for readability Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German
Second modern drachma, 1944-1954
In November 1944, after liberation from Germany, old drachmae were exchanged for new ones at the rate of 50,000,000,000 to 1. Only paper money was issued. The government issued notes of 1, 5, 10 and 20 drachmae with the Bank of Greece issuing 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, and 10,000 drachmae notes. This drachma also suffered from high inflation. Later government issues were of 100, 500, and 1000 drachmae, whilst the Bank of Greece issued 20,000 and 50,000 drachmae notes.
Third modern drachma, 1954-2002
In 1953, in an effort to halt the inflation, Greece joined the Bretton Woods system. The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the world's major industrial states In 1954 the drachma was revalued for a second time at a rate of 1000 to 1. The new currency was pegged at 30 drachmae = 1 US dollar. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been In 1973, the Bretton Woods System was abolished; over the next 25 years the official exchange rate gradually declined, reaching 400 GRD = 1 USD.
Coins
The first issue of coins consisted of holed, aluminium 5, 10 and 20 lepta, cupro-nickel 50 lepta, 1, 2, 5 and 10 drachmae and silver 20 drachmae pieces. In 1973 several new coin types were introduced: unholed, aluminium 10 and 20 lepta, nickel-brass 50 lepta, 1 and 2 drachmae and cupro-nickel 20 drachmae. Cupro-nickel 50 drachmae were introduced in 1980. In 1982, the spelling of the plural of drachma was changed from drachmae (δραχμαί) to drachmas (δραχμές). In 1986, nickel-brass 50 drachmas coins were introduced, followed by copper 1 and 2 drachmas in 1988 and nickel-brass 20 and 100 drachmas in 1990. In 2000 a set of 6 Olympic games themed 500 drachmas coins was issued.
Coins in circulation at the time of the adoption of the euro [2] were
- 1 drachma (. main - title Coin keywords numismatics coin review 293 eurocents)1
- 2 drachmas (. 587 eurocents)1
- 5 drachmas (1. 47 eurocents)1
- 10 drachmas (2. 93 eurocents)
- 20 drachmas (5. 87 eurocents)
- 50 drachmas (14. 67 eurocents)
- 100 drachmas (29. 35 eurocents)
- 500 drachmas (1. 46 euro)
1 Minted but rarely used. Usually, prices were rounded up to the next multiple of 10 drachmas.
Notes
The first issues of banknotes were in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 drachmae, soon followed by 100, 500 and 1000 drachmae by 1956. 5000 drachmas notes were introduced in 1984, followed by 10,000 drachmas in 1995 and 200 drachmas in 1997.
Banknotes in circulation at the time of the adoption of the euro [3] were
- 100 drachmas, Athena, Adamantios Korais (29. A banknote (often known as a bill, paper money or simply a note) is a kind of Negotiable instrument, a Promissory note made by a ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. Adamantios Korais or Coraïs (Αδαμάντιος Κοραής April 27 1748&ndashApril 6 1833 was a humanist scholar credited with laying the foundations of Modern 35 eurocents)
- 200 drachmas, Rigas Feraios (58. Rigas Feraios or Rigas Velestinlis ( Greek: Ρήγας Βελεστινλής-Φεραίος born Αντώνιος Κυριαζής Antonios Kyriazis 69 eurocents)
- 500 drachmas, Ioannis Capodistrias (1. Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (Κόμης Ιωάννης Καποδίστριας - Komis Ioannis Kapodistrias in Giovanni Capo d'Istria Conte Capo d'Istria 47 euros)
- 1000 drachmas, Apollo (2. 93 euros)
- 5000 drachmas, Theodoros Kolokotronis (14. Theodoros Kolokotronis ( Greek: Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης, 3 April 1770 - 15 February 1843) was a 67 euros)
- 10,000 drachmas, George Papanicolaou, Asclepius (29. Georgios N Papanikolaou (or George Papanicolaou; Γεώργιος Παπανικολάου) ( May 13, 1883 &ndash February 19, Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiːəs/, Greek, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of Medicine 35 euros)
Gallery
 1 drachma during the Greek Military Junta period |
 100 drachma coins - obverse |
 100 drachma coins - reverse |
 500 drachma coins - obverse |
 500 drachma coins - reverse |
See also
References
- ^ "Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon", page 180. Commemorative drachma coins Commemorative Greek drachma coins have been issued by the Bank of Greece throughout the 20th century Greek euro coins feature a unique design for each of the eight coins The coinage of the Seleucid Empire is based on the Coins of Alexander the Great which in turn was based on Athenian coinage of the Attic Dirham or dirhem (درهم is a unit of currency in several Arab nations and formerly the related unit of mass (the Ottoman dram) in the Ottoman Empire Greece has managed to achieve a strong economy that is growing fast after the implementation of stabilization policies in recent years Oxford University Press, 1979
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.17.4. Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by
- ^ Drachma, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V. Published 1909. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
External links
- Don's World Coin Gallery - Greece
- Ron Wise's World Paper Money - Greece Mirror site
- The Global History of Currencies - Greece
- Global Financial Data data series - Greece Drachma
- Global Financial Data currency histories table (
Microsoft Excel format) - Overview of the modern Greek drachma from the BBC
- The Greek currency history Complete presentation of the Greek modern coins
| Preceded by Greek phoenix |
Greek currency 1832–2001[1] |
Succeeded by euro |
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