Greek drachma

Drachma, pl. drachmas or drachmae (δραχμή, pl. δραχμές or δραχμαί (until 1982)) is the name of the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: The name drachma is derived from the verb "δράττω" (dráttō, "to grasp"). Initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of six oboloi (metal sticks), which were used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC. It was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the ... more

Drachma, pl. drachmas or drachmae (δραχμή, pl. δραχμές or δραχμαί (until 1982)) is the name of the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: The name drachma is derived from the verb "δράττω" (dráttō, "to grasp"). Initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of six oboloi (metal sticks), which were used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC. It was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name 'obol' was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. The notion that "drachma" derived from the word for fistful apparently dates at least to Herakleides of Pontos (387-312 BCE) but the metrologist Livio C. Stecchini argued that drachma was instead a word of semitic origin. Stecchini was often out of the mainstream. His argument seems plausible (see www.metrum.org) but remains obscure. The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachmon ("four drachma") coin was the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of... less