Paper Money: New Acquisitions

Thanks for all the greek notes and info, guys!

 

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I'm HUGE on Greek art. When I used to work at a call center, I would check out a Greek art textbook from the university library and devour it. I generally went through one a week.
Terrible job, but I learned a whole heck of a lot about Greek art!

 

My grandmother was Greek, and I credit her for my love of lamb, and other great Greek food I only have three Greek notes, the ones printed in France, so it's nice to see these.

 

Today we have this series 1943 25,000 drachmai.

Obverse features the head of Deidamia, one of the figures found on the West Pediment of Temple of Zeus at Olympia. In the pediment, she is being accosted by a centaur.



The two pediments, the East and West are extremely famous and important for our understanding of Early Classical architectural sculpture. This temple boasts two nearly-complete pediments, of which there are only a handful of in existence, the most famous being the pediments of the Parthenon (in much worse condition), and the pediments of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina, notable for both the superb state of preservation of the status but also of the temple itself.

The pediments survived so well because when the temple proper was felled for the last time in an earthquake, the statues all fell off and were neatly buried underneath the rubble. This protected them from the elements as well as from foragers who loved to grind up marble statues into lime for plaster.


Reverse features the remains of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It looks like today only one column is still standing, however.
The temple is most famous for housing the great statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. This statue stood here for quite a while, until it was taken to Constantinople by a later Roman emperor. There is still stood for some time, until it was finally destroyed by a fire - perhaps a gloomy harbinger of the fate of many pagan temples and artifacts.

Today, the temple is in ruins, as is most of the sanctuary at Olympia. A real shame, as in its heyday it was a sight to see, well capable of competing with the Athenian Acropolis for beauty and grandeur.

 

Today's new pickup is this original series 1865 $1 from National Bank of Kinderhook in New York. Yes, some of the note has gone to the dear hereafter, but this is a quite rare bank, 19 total notes known of all kinds. So this Old Kinderhook note is OK by me...

 

Series 1941 100 drachmai.
Obverse features some neat abstract designs. These look a bit more Byzantine or something. A neat aesthetic which I think works pretty well here. This obverse reminds me of later Imperial Russian 50 kopek notes.


Reverse features the Greek Orthodox Kapnikarea church. This church is from the early middle ages, 11th century. Gonna be honest, I don't really know much more about it at all.

 

Great example

 

Here's a hyperinflation series 1944 500,000 drachmai.

Obverse features a marble head of Zeus. This is obviously based on an extant sculpture - you can tell form the uneven break at the neck that is very typical of surviving sculpted heads.
However, I simply cannot find the actual statue. However, here's a similar one. The colossal Zeus of Otricoli. This is a 2nd century Roman copy after a colossal cult seated(?) cult statue of the god.
You can tell the statue was made as a bust instead of a broken-off head, due to the smooth and clean breaks on all sides.
The Romans were HUGE on bust-making, but the Greeks not so much. In this manner, there is a significant corpus of Roman busts of Greek originals that preserve only the head and upper chest.



Reverse is nothing special, sort of looks like older American greenbacks actually.

 

Got this last week

 

New series 2017 and a star at that...

Today's new pickup...well well well The Union Bank is back with another new note and denomination a $5 this time. I like the different layout here, unbalanced, main engraving off to the left, double stack counter on the right, a nice design for the period, and the cherry is that deep red spirograph overprint...

 

Love the cows!!

This is my last Greek note for now. A series 1940 10 drachmai, marked as Kingdom of Greece compared to the others I posted which were National Bank of Greece or Bank of Greece.
Obverse features a cameo of Demeter. This may or may not be based on something real. Below is a cameo just for example sake, to show how these things look in real life.


Reverse shows the gorgeous National Academy of Athens. This amazing complex features as its central attraction a full-scale replica of an Ionic-style temple, complete with pedimental statues that even have an authentic colored background.

 

Believe it or not that 10 Drachma note is considered small change/postal currency and was issued then and earlier under the Kingdom of Greece, that's why it doesn't have a bank issue.

Today's new pickup is this world weary $5 national from Citizens National Bank in Durham, North Carolina. Actually an uncommon bank, only one large size seems to sell each year, so when the price is right, I'll acquire now, and upgrade later...

 

Whats the price point vs condition on these ?

 

Ah, that explains the TINY size. I was so disappointed that I paid $5 for such a small note.

Anyways... Going back to my roots (aka my favorite country) is this Provisional Government of Mexico 1 Peso series 1916.
Obverse features a central eagle-snake, a Toltec(?) head on the lower right, and some Spanish colonizer on the left.



Reverse features two silver peso coins overlapping, with a very Mayan-looking grid pattern for a border.

 

Got this at the bank for face value.
Unfortunate that someone tore the corners off.

 

Got this nice 2003 $10 star for face value, too.

 

Here's a GIGANTIC series 1922 10,000 mark.

 

Hi everyone , can anyone help me..new to this..are these keepers, sellers or use..got them in change and these 3 stood out to me.
Truly appreciate your help

 

You have $3 to spend

 

Thank you everyone for the help you all are great..continued blessings