Greece's history and coins in antiquity are covered here. For Byzantine (numismatic) history, follow this link. Modern Greece has an extensive history of its own, effectively starting from the demise of the Byzantine Empire and the long struggle for independence. But also after independence the country experienced many internal strifes and troubled international relations, as well as volatile economic conditions.
History
Ottoman Greece (1453-1829)
The Fourth Crusade (1202-4) had introduced Frankish and Venetian rule to a lot of parts of Greece, but the Ottomans conquered all of the Greek mainland and the Trebizond Empire in the decade following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottomans conquered Rhodes from the Maltese Knights in 1522 and Cyprus and Crete from the Venetians in 1570 and 1669 respectively. The Ionian Islands were the only part of Greece never to become Ottoman. Instead, France annexed them from the Republic of Venice in 1797. They were passed on to Britain in 1815.
Ottoman rule in Greece was often harsh but some Greek elites reached high positions in the Ottoman Empire and Greek merchants continued to do good business in Constantinople. Several Greek revolts were crushed. The Venetians briefly held the Peloponnesos (1684-1699) and the Russians supported a Greek revolt in 1770, though halfheartedly. The Russian ambition was to restore the Byzantine Empire and secure the Bosporus Strait but at the decisive moment Russian support was insufficient for Greek success.
Independence and territorial expansion (1829-1923)
The Greeks turned to French and British support for its cause. Many Western Europeans sympathised with the Greeks. The Greek War of Independence started in 1822 with private support from the West but the governments of France, Britain and Russia were skeptical at first. After many years of struggle the Great Powers decided to intervene in 1828. For Britain and France, the main reason was to prevent the Russians gaining a power monopoly in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In 1829 the First Hellenic Republic was effectively established as the first independent Greek state since the 1400's, although millions of Greeks remained within Ottoman territory. In 1831 Greece became a kingdom with Otto (Hellenised to Othon) of Bavaria as its first king. Otto was autocratic and very impopular. He was deposed in 1862 leaving no heir.
Greece's territorial expansions from 1829 until 1923, illustrating how fickle borders were in the Balkans throughout this period.
Greece's second king, George, was the son of Denmark's Christian IX and brother-in-law of Edward VII. George sucessfully led his country until his assassination by an anarchist in 1914. Well connected to European powers, he gained the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate, in 1864. Even though the War of 1897 was lost to the Ottomans, foreign intervention ensured Crete's independence in 1898 and union with Greece in 1908. The Balkan Wars of 1911-1913 saw further territorial expansion at the expense of the Ottoman Empire.
Greece remained neutral during World War 1, despite numerous invitations by the Entente to join them in the campaigns against the Ottomans and popular support for the Allied cause, causing deep political divisions in Greece. In 1919 Greece invaded Anatolia and Eastern Thrace, which both had large Greek minorities but also large Turkish presence. Kemal Ataturk's forces repelled the Greek invasion, cleansing all of Anatolia of Greeks. Those who did not flee or were killed before 1923, were forcefully transferred in a population exchange with Turkey.
Political turmoil (1923-1974)
The decades after the disastrous Greco-Turkish War of 1919-22 were marked by political instability. A revolution ended the monarchy in 1924, establishing the Second Hellenic Republic which lasted only 11 years. The Great Depression had severe effects on Greece and by 1935 it had become a monarchy again with the return of King George II. In 1936 Greece became a dictatorship under Ioannes Metaxas.
Italy invaded Greece in 1940. The Greeks were able to drive the Italians back to Albania, prompting Nazi Germany to intervene to aid their Axis allies in April 1941. In a matter of weeks Greece was occupied by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. The three years of Axis occupation caused a lot of destruction and loss of life. The Allies managed to liberate most parts of Greece in 1944.
After World War 2 Greece was plunged into a civil war between Soviet-backed left-wing partisans and right-wing conservatives backed by the West. Churchill and Stalin agreed to put Greece in the Western sphere of influence. The Soviets withdrew support which ended the civil war in favor of the conservatives. The country was ravaged.
Greece's situation gradually improved in the 1950's following US investments from the Marshall Plan, but it remained an unstable country. In 1967 the army took over power in what became known as the Colonel's regime. King Constantine II attempted a counter coup the same year but failed and went into exile. The colonels only abolished the monarchy in 1973, leading to the strange situation of Constantine still being official head of state despite being in exile and disapproving of its government. The Colonel's Regime came to an end in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which was a response to a coup in Cyprus supported by the Greek Colonels.
The Colonels. They claimed to have saved Greece but turned the country into an international pariah and frustrated many Greeks with impopular decisions. They actually resembled the many military juntas that ruled Latin America in those days.
Third Hellenic Republic (1974-date)
Greece has been a democracy since 1974. In 1986 it joined the European Economic Community. Economic development accelerated during the 1990's and early 2000's. Greece was admitted to the Eurozone in 2001, a decision which turned out to have disastrous effects when the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 caused serious budget deficits. By 2010 the Greek government was effectively bankrupt causing a major European confidence crisis and an economic depression in Greece itself. These problems are still ongoing in 2016 even though the Greek government has agreed to reform its finances in return for emergency loans from the EU and the IMF.
There is major public discontent about the situation, especially since capital controls were implemented in 2015 to prevent bank runs. There is still a risk that Greece will be the first country to leave the Eurozone. On top of that, the European refugee crisis of 2016 has caused even more hardship for the Greek authorities, with the public feeling once more betrayed by the European institutions.
Currency
After independence Greece replaced Ottoman currency for the Phoenix, which was worth 1/6 of a Spanish 8 Reales but with a slightly lower silver weight to encourage its use. The Phoenix was divided in 100 Lepta. The currency was only used sporadically as there was not enough metal available for minting a sufficient amount of coins. They were minted in Achaia with equipment bought from Malta where the Order of Malta coins were replaced by British coinage in 1825.
The Drachma replaced the Phoenix in 1832 at par and was fixed at 0.895 French Francs, which was equal to 1/6 Peso or Spanish Dollar. Greece joined the Latin Monetary Union in 1868, fixing the Drachma at par with the French Franc making it worth 25.22 to a British Pound and 5.18 to a US Dollar. It also named the 5 Lepta Obolon and 10 Lepta Diobolon.
The union with the Ionian Islands in 1862 ended the use of the Ionian Obol at a rate of 5 Lepta. The Obol had been pegged to a British Half Penny, of which the value was very close to 5 Greek Lepta. From 1898 to 1908 the Cretan State issued its own currency at par with the Greek Drachma.
The start of WW1 ended the gold standard for most LMU countries including Greece. It was suspended from the LMU twice after issuing unbacked paper money. Greece was often at war in those days which increased government expenditures. Greece defaulted on its bonds in 1892. History repeats itself.
After WW1 the Drachma dropped to 77/$ in 1928 and 100 per USD in 1938. The Axis occupation and subsequent civil war caused hyperinflation. In 1944 the Drachma was redenominated at 50 billion to 1, and in 1954 to another 1000 to 1. The Bretton Woods exchange rate became 30 New Drachmai per USD, making it 7.5 Drachma per Deutschmark.
After 1970 the Drachma started falling versus USD and Deutschmarks. In 1980 the rates were 53/$ and 29/DM. In 1990 this had become 158/$ and 97/DM, and in 2001 362/$ and 175/DM. In 2001 the Drachma was replaced by the Euro at a rate of 340.751. The devaluations suddenly ended because it was tied to the Eurozone, which caused imbalances to pile up until it went wrong.
Coins
Early modern Greek coins are very rare. The country was still small and mintage figures low. Coins from George's reign are moderately hard to find. These followed the LMU standards.
In the early 20's only an aluminium 10 and cupro-nickel 50 Lepta coin were issued. The Second Hellenic Republic issued coins between 1926 and 1930 in denominations from 50 Lepta to 20 Drachmai.
No circulation coins were issued between 1930 and 1954. Only after the second redenomination and peg to USD a new series of 5, 10, 20 and 50 Lepta and 1, 2, 5, 10 and silver 20 Drachmai were put in circulation. A silver commemorative 30 Drachmai (=1$) was also from this era. After the 1967 coup the coins started to show the phoenix symbol and the date of the coup. Despite being exiled King Constantine II's portrait was still used.
In 1973 the junta issued a new non-royal series, which still included the phoenix. After restoration of democracy a new series replaced the previous coins in 1976. From 1986 the plural notation was altered from archaic Drachmai to the colloquial Drachmes. Reason for this was to use only spoken Greek on the legends and not the formal written version that resembled classic Greek more.
Higher denominations were added from the 1980's with 50, 100 and 500 Drachma coins, with 1, 2 and 20 reduced in size. 500 Drachma coins commemorated the 2004 Olympics and did not circulate that commonly.
Because of Greece's late accession to the Eurozone its Euro coins were minted by multiple mints in order to meet the deadline. Coins minted in Athens have no mint mark. Coins with an E are minted in Spain. S stands for Finland and F for France.
Coins of modern Greece (1829-date)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/grece-1.html
Coins of Crete (1898-1908):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/crete-1.html
Coins of the Ionian Islands (1815-1864):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ionian-islands-1.html
