Slovenia - 2 cents 2009 (Sovereign Enthronement Stone) EUR 0.25
Slovenia - 2 euros 2013 (800th anniversary of visits to Postojna Cave) EUR 3.25
Greece - 10 lepta 1976 (Charging bull) EUR 0.25
Germany - 2 euros 2013 (50 Years of Franco-German Friendship (Elysee Treaty)) EUR 3.45
Estonia - 2 cents 2012 (Geographical image of Estonia) EUR 0.25
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 500 drachma coins have circulated in Greece until the introduction of the Common European Currency on January 1, 2002:
Louis, Spyridon (1873-1940) was a Greek water-seller and shepherd, who became a national hero in the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896, when he won the marathon (40 km) event in 2 hours 58 minutes 50 seconds. Having achieved this feat ...
Baron de Pierre Coubertin (1863-1937) was a French educator and thinker, who was the principal organizer of the modern Olympic Games. In the late 1880s Coubertin was commissioned by the French government to form a universal sports association, and in ...
The boxer Diagoras of Rhodes (464 BC) belonged to a noble family and during his life, he was known by the whole Greece, as the best example of an athlete. His sons became also Olympic winners and he was fortunate to see them winning, the one in boxing ...
To symbolize the link between the ancient and modern Olympic Games, each Olympic year officials rekindle the flame from the rays of the sun in Olympia, Greece, the site of the original Olympic Games. A relay of runners then carries the flame to the site ...
The enchanting setting of ancient Olympia was chosen by the ancient Greeks as the place where the most glorious and renowned Pan-Hellenic games in antiquity were held in 776 BC, which gave birth to the modern Olympic games. One of the most important monuments ...
Nike is the personification of victory, as it was depicted in a Greek statue from about 200 bC. Nike of Samothrace (also known as Winged Victory), is one of the most famous Greek sculptures from the Hellenistic period. Formerly located on the island of ...
XXI Mediterranean Games in Athens 1991Dolphins are common in Greek mythology and there are many coins from the time which feature a man or boy riding on the back of a dolphin. The Ancient Greeks treated them with welcome; a ship spotting dolphins ...
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 ...
Commemorating the Olympic Games of 1984For the third consecutive Olympiad, a boycott prevented all member nations from attending the Summer Games. This time, the Soviet Union and 13 Communist allies stayed home in an obvious payback for the West's ...
XIII Paneuropean Games - Athens 1982The 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 ...
Greek Drachma Coins
Author: Ioannis Androulakis