National Bank of Greece

1841-1900

National Bank of Greece was founded in 1841 by George Stavros (1788-1869). From the beginning and until 1927 NBG had the privilege of issuing banknotes in Greece. American Bank Note Company and Bradbury Wilkinson & Co printed the majority of the banknotes with face values of 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 drachmas and also 1, 2 and 5 drachmas. The last three had to be issued due to lack of coins in the end of 19th century. The main characteristic of NBG's banknotes is the figure of George Stavros on them. Until 1923 the coat of arms was also printed. The majority of the 19th century notes are very scarce. Especially, the only known banknotes of the first three issues are those of the NBG archive.

Pick #	Date	Value	Edition	Face View	Back View	Comments
P-10	1842-1850	25 dr	Α' (1st)		Banknotes of the first issue were printed only in one side in colored paper in France.
P-11	1842-1850	50 dr	Α' (1st)
P-12	1842-1850	100 dr	Α' (1st)
P-13	1842-1850	500 dr	Α' (1st)
P-14	1849-1852	10 dr	Β'(2nd)		Banknotes of the second issue were printed as those of the first issue.
P-15	1849-1852	25 dr	Β'(2nd)
P-16	1849-1852	50 dr	Β'(2nd)
P-17	1849-1852	100 dr	Β'(2nd)
P-18	1849-1852	500 dr	Β'(2nd)
P-19	1852-1867	10 dr	Γ'(3rd)		The third issue was printed in London and had more security features than the previous issues.
P-20	1852-1867	25 dr	Γ'(3rd)
P-21	1852-1867	100 dr	Γ'(3rd)
P-23	1859-1869	10 dr	Δ'α (4th)		The specific banknotes have the coat of arms of king Otto. From these banknotes and until 1927 all banknotes of National Bank of Greece bore the image George Stavros, founder of the bank.
P-24	1859-1869	25 dr	Δ'α (4th)
P-25	1859-1869	100 dr	Δ'α(4th)
P-28	1859-1869	25 dr	Δ'β (4th)		The banknotes of the fourth issue have the first type of king George A' coat of arms.
P-29	1859-1869	100 dr	Δ'β (4th)
P-30	1870-1886	10 dr	Ε' (5th)			For the first time banknotes are printed in both sides. In the front view you can see two large N, indicating that Greece joined the Latin Monetary Union. In the back both the value and the bank's name are written in French. Coat of arms has been redesigned.
P-31	1870-1886	25 dr	Ε' (5th)
P-32	1870-1886	100 dr	Ε' (5th)
P-33	1870-1886	500 dr	Ε' (5th)
P-34	21/12/1885	1 dr	Α' (1st)			First type.
P-35	21/12/1885	2 dr	Α' (1st)			First type.
P-40	21/12/1885 (1897)	1 dr	Β'(2nd)			Second type. Although the date is 1885, it circulated in 1897.
P-41	21/12/1885 (1897)	2 dr	Β'(2nd)			Second type. Although the date is 1885, it circulated in 1897.
P-37	1886-1897	10 dr	ΣΤ'(6th)			The 100 dr note is virtually the same with P-32.
P-38	1886-1897	25 dr	ΣΤ'(6th)
P-39	1886-1897	100 dr	ΣΤ' (6th)
P-43	1892-1900	10 dr	Ζ' (7th)			Printed in Wien.
P-44	12/8/1897 to 31/8/1900	25 dr	Ζ' (7th)			Printed in London by Waterlow & Sons, Ltd.
P-45	1892-1900	100 dr	Ζ' (7th)			Printed in Wien.
P-36	(1885)	5 dr	Due to lack of 5 dr silver coins, the state decided to cut in half all the previous 10 dr notes and circulated as 5 dr notes. When a new 5 dr note issued in 1897 the cutting was prohibited.
P-42	3/10/1897 10/11/1897 12/12/1897	5 dr	Α' (1st)			The first 5 dr note ever issued.
P-46	1/6/1900 to 15/7/1900	10 dr	Η' (8th)			Printed by Bradbury.
P-48	1/6/1900 to 15/7/1900	100 dr	Η' (8th)			Printed by Bradbury.