Every country has its own currency. With the advent of world integration and the European Union, some of them have gone down in history. The same applies to the drachma currency, which existed in Greece, but with the advent of the European Union, the euro lost its place. The story goes away, so many now wonder about what drachma is.
Appearance story
Drachma existed in ancient Greek policies and reached the time of the independence of Greece in the 20th century. It is the oldest currency in the world, its age is more than 2000 years. In ancient times, each city had its own type of drachma. The first banknote was issued back in 1863 and had a face value of 25 drams. Initially, Greece did not have its own enterprise for making money, so they were printed in America. And the first enterprise appeared only in 1941, but because of World War II, printing of own money in Greece began only in 1947.
Face value
In ancient Greece, it was customary to mint coins from precious metals. Initially, coins of small denomination were forged from silver and copper, and coins of 5 drachmas and higher were minted from gold. But in 1926, 5 drachmas and below were minted from copper, and 10 and 20 became silver. In 1960 there was a monetary reform, and coins were minted from a copper-nickel alloy. The following denominations were in circulation for the euro in the currency of drams: 1, 2, 5, 10, as well as 20, 50 and 100.
Refusal of national currency
By the time the decision was made to switch to the euro and join the European Union, the exchange rate of the dram against the euro was 340 to 1. The country entered the currency union in 2001, and all currency transfers and replacements lasted for another 2 years. The need for this transition was associated with the difficult economic situation of the country at the turn of the millennium. Almost all partners in the European Union were economically stronger than Greece.
Consequences of the transition
Very many in Greece noted the negative consequences of switching to the euro. If you could live two weeks before switching to a thousand drachmas, then after switching to this equivalent you could not buy bottles of water. In 2015, the Greek government even planned to introduce a two-currency economy policy, in which settlements could be made both in euros and drams. This topic is not yet exhausted, because discontent and tension in society are still present.
Conclusion
Currently, the oldest currency has remained in history. She disappeared forever or for some time, the government and people of Greece will decide. But at the moment, the question of what drachma can be answered is that this is history.