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Greek 500 drachma coins
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:
  | 500 drachmas - The Medal Olympic Games - Athens 2004 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 Samothraki (Samothrace), the sculpture is now part of the collection of the Louvre Museum, Paris, France. The coin reproduces the commemorative medal of the 1896 Olympics illustrating Nike. In the upper half of the circle the words "Athens 1986" and in the lower half the words "The Medal" ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Spyros Louis Olympic Games - Athens 2004 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 he returned to his village of Maroussi and did not run competitively again. The coin portraits Spiros Louis between two rows of trees, the Tomb of Marathon in the background and the words "Olympic Champion Spyros Louis" ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Coubertin - Vikelas Olympic Games - Athens 2004 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 1894 he invited representatives from several countries to Paris where he propose the organization of the Olympic Games Dimitrios Vikelas was a permanent resident of Paris at the time of the congress in Sorbonne and his proposal that the city of Athens should organise the first Olympic Games was unanimously accepted by the delegates ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Diagoras Olympic Games - Athens 2004 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 and the other in the pankratium. After their accomplishment they crowned their father's head with olive branches and carried him in their shoulders. The whole stadium cheered and congratulated them and when someone advised him to die at that moment, Diagoras let his head drop and died instantly, in the shoulders of his sons ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Olympic Flame Olympic Games - Athens 2004 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 of the new games; the lighting of the Olympic cauldron has become the most hallowed moment of the Olympics. The coin proptrays a scene of the Olympic Flame lighting ceremony, held on the site of Ancient Olympia, with the high priestess handing the Olympic Torch to the first runner of the torch relay and the words "Olympic Flame Lighting" ...
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  | 500 drachmas - The Stadium Olympic Games - Athens 2004 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 of Olympia is the Crypt, a long and narrow vaulted passage through which the athletes and judges entered the Stadium, and which soon acquired its symbolic importance signifying the opening of the games ...
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 | 500 drachmas - Dolphin XXI Mediterranean Games in Athens 1991 Dolphins 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 riding in their wake was considered a good omen for a smooth voyage The coin is delivered in the original box with the Certificate of Authenticity ...
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  | 500 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 after World War I. It was restored in 1985 for Salonica's 2300th birthday celebrations to house a small but well-presented museum of Byzantine secular and sacred art. ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Los Angeles Olympics Commemorating the Olympic Games of 1984 For 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 snub of Moscow in 1980. The L.A. Olympics were the first privately financed Games ever and made an unheard of profit of $215 million. Time magazine was so impressed it named organizing president Peter Ueberroth its Man of the Year Delivered in the original capsule ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Racers - 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. Early records of races are evident on pottery from ancient Greece, which depicted running men vying for first place. The role of running in ancient Greece was not just a contest, as it was also used in battle and to bring news ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Racing - 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. Early records of races are evident on pottery from ancient Greece, which depicted running men vying for first place. The role of running in ancient Greece was not just a contest, as it was also used in battle and to bring news ...
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  | 500 drachmas - Relay race - 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. Early records of races are evident on pottery from ancient Greece, which depicted running men vying for first place. The role of running in ancient Greece was not just a contest, as it was also used in battle and to bring news ...
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The size of the images above are related to the diameter of the coins they represent.
