The name drachma is derived from the verb dratto ("to grasp"), as 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 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.
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 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.
The following 100 drachma coins have circulated in Greece until the introduction of the
Common European Currency on January 1, 2002:
 | 100 drachmas - Weight-lifter
70th for men/13th for women World Weight-lifting Championship in Athens 1999 Weightlifting is a sport based on the lifting of a series of progressively heavier metal weights, which are generally encased in rubber and it is included in the Olympic Games program. The obverse image is part of a relief from the Zeus Temple in Olympia, which displayed the labors of Hercules, son of Zeus, while the reverse depicts an athlete| Krause - Misler | #174 | | Diameter | 29.5 mm | | Thickness | 2.22 mm | | Weight | 10 gr | | Composition | Copper 92%, Alumnium 6%, Nickel 2% | | Edge | Smooth and milled | | Comments | Engraver: Stamatopoulos |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1999 | unknown | Uncirculated | € 1.8 | Buy |
|
 | 100 drachmas - Wrestlers
45th World Championship Graeco-Roman Wrestling in Athens 1999 Greco-Roman wrestling is especially popular in Europe, but it is practiced throughout the world. The contestants must apply all holds above the waist, and that the use of the legs in scoring or defending is prohibited. Accordingly, tripping, tackling, and using the legs to secure a hold are not permitted| Krause - Misler | #173 | | Diameter | 29.5 mm | | Thickness | 2.22 mm | | Weight | 10 gr | | Composition | Copper 92%, Alumnium 6%, Nickel 2% | | Edge | Smooth and milled | | Comments | Engraver: Stamatopoulos |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1999 | unknown | Uncirculated | € 1.3 | Buy |
|
 | 100 drachmas - Basketball players
XII World Basketball Championship in Athens 1998 Basketball is a fast-paced game played on a rectangular court by two five-player teams. It is considered one of the most popular sports in the world and the primary objective of the game is to score more points than the opposition by putting a round ball through a circular band, called a rim| Krause - Misler | #170 | | Diameter | 29.5 mm | | Thickness | 2.22 mm | | Weight | 10 gr | | Composition | Copper 92%, Alumnium 6%, Nickel 2% | | Edge | Smooth and milled | | Comments | Engraver: Stamatopoulos |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1998 | unknown | Uncirculated | € 1.7 | Buy |
|
 | 100 drachmas - Hurdler
VI International Athletics Championship in Athens 1997 The Temple of Hera at Olympia (590? bC), is the oldest well-preserved Doric temple. With 6 columns across the front and back and 16 on each side, the temple has a ratio of length to width of nearly three to one, but as time passed, Greek architects felt these proportions were too elongated| Krause - Misler | #169 | | Diameter | 29.5 mm | | Thickness | 2.22 mm | | Weight | 10 gr | | Composition | Copper 92%, Alumnium 6%, Nickel 2% | | Edge | Smooth and milled | | Comments | Engraver: Stamatopoulos |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1997 | 5,000,000 | Uncirculated | € 1.35 | Buy |
|
 | 100 drachmas - Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great (356-323 bc) was the king of Macedonia (Greece), conqueror of the Persian Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, being the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a princess of Epirus. Aristotle was Alexander's tutor; he gave Alexander a thorough training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, ...| Krause - Misler | #159 | | Diameter | 29.5 mm | | Thickness | 2.22 mm | | Weight | 10 gr | | Composition | Copper 92%, Alumnium 6%, Nickel 2% | | Edge | Smooth and milled | | Comments | Engraver: V. Sampatakos |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 2000 | unknown | Uncirculated | € 1.4 | Buy | | 1998 | unknown | Uncirculated | € 13 | Buy | | 1994 | unknown | Uncirculated | - | View | | 1992 | unknown | Uncirculated | - | View | | 1990 | unknown | Uncirculated | - | View |
|
 | 100 drachmas - 28th Chess Olympics in Thessaloniki 1988
A total of 107 teams participated in the 28th Chess Olympics, held in Thessaloniki (12th - 30th November 1988) The coin features the most prominent post-Byzantine monument of the city, the White Tower, which formed the southeast corner of the city's Byzantine and Turkish defences. Prior to this, it was the "Bloody Tower", a place of imprisonment and (in 1826) execution of the janissaries, until the building itself and its reputation were whitewashed ...| Krause - Misler | #152 | | Diameter | 31 mm | | Weight | 12 gr | | Composition | Copper 75%, Nickel 25% | | Edge | Smooth |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1988 | 30,000 | Uncirculated | € 13.2 | Buy |
|
 | 100 drachmas - Pole vault - Series C
XIII Paneuropean Games - Athens 1982 The spirit of the Olympic Games is capsured in this unique collection of Greek legal tender coins. The coins trace the history of the games, from their birth in ancient Greece to their revival in the 1896 Olympic Games and finally to the return of the athletes to Athens in 1892. Pole vaulting is a field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole (usually made either of fiberglass or carbon fiber) as an ...| Krause - Misler | #136 | | Diameter | 24 mm | | Weight | 5.78 gr | | Composition | 0.9000 Silver .1672 oz. ASW | | Edge | Reeded | | Comments | Engraver: Th. Papagiannis |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1982 | 150,000 | Uncirculated | - | View |
|
 | 100 drachmas - High jump - Series B
XIII Paneuropean Games - Athens 1982 The spirit of the Olympic Games is capsured in this unique collection of Greek legal tender coins. The coins trace the history of the games, from their birth in ancient Greece to their revival in the 1896 Olympic Games and finally to the return of the athletes to Athens in 1892. The high jump predated the Olympics in ancient Greece. The first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th century ...| Krause - Misler | #135 | | Diameter | 24 mm | | Weight | 5.78 gr | | Composition | 0.9000 Silver .1672 oz. ASW | | Edge | Reeded | | Comments | Engraver: Th. Papagiannis |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1982 | 150,000 | Uncirculated | - | View |
|
 | 100 drachmas - Long jump - Series A
XIII Paneuropean Games - Athens 1982 The spirit of the Olympic Games is capsured in this unique collection of Greek legal tender coins. The coins trace the history of the games, from their birth in ancient Greece to their revival in the 1896 Olympic Games and finally to the return of the athletes to Athens in 1892. The long jump was one of the events of the original Olympics in Ancient Greece. The athletes carried a weight in each hand, which were ...| Krause - Misler | #125 | | Diameter | 24 mm | | Weight | 5.78 gr | | Composition | 0.9000 Silver .1672 oz. ASW | | Edge | Reeded | | Comments | Engraver: Th. Papagiannis |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1981 | 30,000 | Uncirculated | € 12 | Buy |
|
 | 100 drachmas - Military coup of April 21, 1967
In April 1967 a military coup led by Col. George Papadopoulos seized power, suspended the constitution and dissolved the Parliament. This coin commemorates the event, using the mythical bird Phoenix which is reborn from its ashes to symbolize the rebirth of Greece behind an armed soldier. The coup lasted for 7 years and ended with the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 The coin shows a mild discoloration| Krause - Misler | #94 | | Diameter | 38 mm | | Weight | 25 gr | | Composition | 0.835 Silver .6712 oz. ASW, remainder copper | | Edge | Milled | | Comments | Engraver: E. Kelaidis |
| Date | Mintage | Grade | Price | Shop | | 1970 | 50,000 | Uncirculated | - | View |
|
The size of the images above are related to the diameter of the coins they represent.