Greek drachma

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"Drachma" can also refer to a fictional country in the anime Fullmetal Alchemist.

Drachma, pl. Drachmas or Drachmae (δραχμή, pl. δραχμές or δραχμαί (until 1980)) is the name of both:

1. An ancient currency unit found in many Greek city states and successor states, and in many Middle Eastern kingdoms of the Hellenistic era.
2. A modern Greek currency, introduced in 1832, and replaced by the euro in 2001 (at the rate of 340.750 drachma to the euro). Euro currency did not begin circulating until 2002, but the exchange rate was fixed in 19th June 2000, with legal introduction of the euro taking place in January 2001.

Contents 1 Ancient Drachma 2 Modern Drachma 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Ancient Drachma

The name Drachma is derived from the verb "δράττω" (dratto, "to grasp"). Initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of six oboloi roasting spits, which were used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC. 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 tetradrachma ("four drachmae") coin was the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great. It featured the helmeted profile bust of Athena on the obverse (front) and an owl on the reverse (back). 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'. The reverse is featured on the national side of the modern Greek 1 euro coin.

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. 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 Armenian dram also derives its name from the drachma.

It is generally considered meaningless to come up with comparative exchange rates with modern currency due to the fact that the range of products produced in these economies were very different compared to the products produced in your modern economy which make PPP calculations very difficult, however, some historians and economists have estimated that in the 5th century BC a drachma had a rough value of 25 dollars (estimated with 1990 dollars). Classical historians regularly say that in the classical period of ancient Greek history (the fifth and fourth centuries), the daily wage for a skilled worker was one drachma. For a continuation of the Drachma under Rome, see Roman provincial coins.

Historic currency divisions

6 obols = 1 drachma

100 drachmae = 1 mina (or mna)

60 minae = 1 Athenian Talent (Athenian standard)

Minae and talents were never actually minted: they represented weight measures used for commodities (e.g. grain) as well as metals like silver or gold.

[edit] Modern Drachma

The drachma was reborn in 1832, soon after the establishment of the modern state of Greece. It replaced the phoenix at par. In 1868, Greece joined the Latin Monetary Union and the drachma became equal in weight and value to the French franc. During the German occupation of Greece (1941–1944), catastrophic hyperinflation and Nazi looting of the Greek treasury made the drachma practically worthless; in 1944, old drachmae were exchanged for new ones at the ratio of 50,000,000,000 to 1. The new currency was soon devaluated again; in 1953, in an effort to halt the slide, Greece joined the Bretton Woods system. In 1954 notes were again exchanged for new ones, at a ratio of 1,000 to 1; the new notes were pegged at 30 drachmae = 1 US dollar.

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 in circulation at the time of the adoption of the Euro [1]

• 1 Drachma (.293 Eurocents)¹
• 2 Drachmae (.587 Eurocents)¹
• 5 Drachmae (1.47 Eurocents)
• 10 Drachmae (2.93 Eurocents)
• 20 Drachmae (5.87 Eurocents)
• 50 Drachmae (14.67 Eurocents)
• 100 Drachmae (29.35 Eurocents)
• 500 Drachmae (1.47 Euros)

¹ Minted, but rarely used. Usually, prices were rounded up to the next multiple of 5 drachmas.

Banknotes in circulation at the time of the adoption of the Euro [2]

• 100 drachmae,Athena, Adamantios Korais (29.35 Eurocents)
• 200 drachmae, Rigas Feraios(58.69 Eurocents)
• 500 drachmae, Ioannis Capodistrias (1.47 Euros)
• 1000 drachmae, Apollo (2.93 Euros)
• 5000 drachmae, Theodoros Kolokotronis(14.67 Euros)
• 10,000 drachmae, George Papanicolaou, Asclepius (29.35 Euros)

Modern currency divisions

100 lepta = 1 drachma

[edit] See also

• Commemorative coins of Greece
• Greek euro coins
• Seleucid coinage
• Dirham

[edit] External links

• History of Greek Banknotes
• 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

1. ^ 2001 by law, 2002 de facto.

Pre-euro and other EU currencies

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