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Currency history

Modern Greek drachma — 1833 to euro continuity

Modern Greek drachma: a historical unit of account.

Dates in use
Introduction and ending not established
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Where this money came from

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The story

The surviving evidence establishes this unit of account, but a fuller narrative is still being developed. Its known connections are shown above; the research page documents what is established and what remains uncertain.

Turning points

Currency replacement

Otto’s decree replaced the phoenix with the drachma. [1]

Name revival

The modern drachma deliberately reused the ancient Greek currency name. No continuous ancient-to-modern currency or fixed conversion asserted. [2]

Redenomination

The postwar drachma replaced 50 billion occupation-era drachmas. Date of the first postwar banknotes; the underlying law is dated 10 November 1944. [3]

Redenomination

One new drachma replaced 1, 000 postwar drachmas. [4]

Euro monetary substitution

1 EUR = 340.750 GRD. Greece: euro adoption 2001-01-01; cash 2002-01-01. Regulation 974/98 substitutes the euro for each participating state’s currency on its adoption date; cash changeover is separately defined. [5] [6] [7]

Euro cash changeover

Greece: euro adoption 2001-01-01; cash 2002-01-01. [6]

Sources and evidence

  1. Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection · Silver drachma of King Otto C864 ↗
  2. Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection · Silver drachma of King Otto C865 ↗
  3. Bank of Greece · Drachma banknotes; Bank of Greece · Drachma coins C866 ↗
  4. Bank of Greece · Drachma coins C867 ↗
  5. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 2866/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C684 ↗
  6. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C685 ↗
  7. Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C646 ↗

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Cite this page

“Modern Greek drachma — 1833 to euro continuity.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/T-FTM000798.html

Editorial evidence supplement · Download dataset v44

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