Greece 1845 drachma
This specimen was lot 21330 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Las Vegas, August 2020), where it sold for $3,120. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREECE. Drachma, 1845. Athens Mint. Othon. NGC FINE-12. A well worn and wholesome example of this VERY RARE issue exhibiting smooth surfaces displaying light grey tone with areas of richer coloration near the rims and amongst the devices." This type is listed for 1832-34 and 1845-47 and, like most of the issues of nineteenth century Greece, is scarce. Drachmai struck 1868 and later were minted to the standard of a French silver franc. Greece, poor, backward, corrupt and riven by feuds, could ill afford a substantial silver coinage.
Wikipedia comments,
"Otto (1815-67) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862. The second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended the newly created throne of Greece at age 17. His government was initially run by a three-man regency council made up of Bavarian court officials. Upon reaching his majority, Otto removed the regents when they proved unpopular with the people, and he ruled as an absolute monarch. Eventually his subjects' demands for a constitution proved overwhelming, and in the face of an armed (but bloodless) insurrection, Otto granted a constitution in 1843."
Recorded mintage: unknown but a rare date.
Specification: 4.48 g, 0.900 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-15; Geo-74.
- Jean-Paul Divo, Modern Greek Coins, 1828-1968. Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman NV, 1968.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The August 2020 ANA Auction: World Coins, featuring the Duke of Lansing Collection, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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