(n.) A silver coin among the ancient Greeks, having a different value in different States and at different periods. The average value of the Attic drachma is computed to have been about 19 cents.
(n.) A gold and silver coin of modern Greece worth 19.3 cents.
(n.) Among the ancient Greeks, a weight of about 66.5 grains; among the modern Greeks, a weight equal to a gram.
Example Sentences:
(1) The following day, politicians and eurocrats began scrambling to hammer out a larger rescue package for Greece: 28 April 2010 Photograph: Guardian That was the time when puns about Acropolis Now, and ‘making a drachma out of a crisis’ were in vogue: Greek debt crisis, 28 April 2010 Photograph: Guardian But there wasn’t much time for jokes.
(2) It looks confusing to start now.” Stathopoulos said young people should think twice before encouraging the government to take Greece out of the euro and return to the drachma.
(3) The exchange rate of the new drachma would collapse in the open markets, making it difficult to secure supplies of oil, medicine, foodstuffs and other goods.
(4) Greece's economy has been in the balance for months, but the seeds of the crisis were sown a decade ago 1 January 2001: Greece joins the euro Having been left out when the single European currency began at the beginning of 1999, Greece becomes the 12th member two years later after dramatically cutting inflation and interest rates, and bringing the drachma smoothly into line with the euro.
(5) A newly minted drachma would be low enough to attract holidaymakers, but without the investment in new hotels, the industry could barely cope.
(6) The question on Sunday is not between the euro and the drachma, but between the continuation of these policies or salvation from the greatest destruction a people have experienced in peacetime.
(7) Chrissa, who has been in London for two years, says the transition from drachma to euro ratcheted up prices for no real reason beyond the fact that everyone was on the make.
(8) Germany's bestselling paper, Bild, which has handed out drachmas in Athens and urged Greece to sell an island to help pay off its debt, trumpeted: "For 90 minutes it will be about more than just football.
(9) Even if the Greek government decides to pay wages and pensions by printing its own IOUs or “new drachmas”, the European court of justice will rule that all domestic debts and bank deposits must be repaid in euros.
(10) The fact that there is no real appetite for having the drachma back means that a referendum could be won.
(11) It is almost certain to bring more misery to a country where half a decade of austerity has crippled the economy and left 50% of young people without work, but there was widespread fear that returning to the drachma would be even more damaging.
(12) Greece's latest attempt to reach deal with creditors collapses Read more As Greece’s choice comes ever more sharply into focus – between opting to stay in the eurozone and experiencing yet more austerity, or defaulting on its repayments and possibly returning to the drachma – some economists have also suggested, as an interim measure, a halfway house parallel currency that would involve government IOU notes and tax credit certificates.
(13) On day one it suggested that one drachma should be worth the same as a euro, with wages, prices, loans and deposits redenominated one for one.
(14) Greece’s debts would be repaid in a drastically devalued drachma, if they were repaid at all.
(15) Drachmas worth around 10% of the euro are distributed by local banks, which are nationalised to stop them going bust.
(16) JPMorgan Chase has created new accounts for a handful of American giants that are reserved for a new drachma in Greece or whatever currency might replace the euro.
(17) Briefly put: the return to the drachma should be sudden, accompanied by a short bank holiday and immediate imposition of capital controls.
(18) With no drachma to punish for Greece's financial mismanagement, those foreign exchange traders seeking to profit from the situation have instead shorted the euro – a move which threatens the stability of all the countries in the eurozone.
(19) If an agreement can’t be reached, Greece might well go back to the drachma.
(20) Icap, the City currency broker, is ready to reintroduce a drachma trading facility by installing a new panel on its electronic screens.
Obolus
Definition:
(n.) A small silver coin of Athens, the sixth part of a drachma, about three cents in value.
(n.) An ancient weight, the sixth part of a drachm.