HomeFleur-de-coin.comGreek eurosMintmarks FESGreek currency500 drachmas Greek 500 drachma coins The name drachma is derived from the verb dratto ("to grasp"), as 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. The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachmon ("four drachmae") coin was the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great. After Alexander the Great's conquests, the name drachma was used in many of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the Middle East, including the Ptolemaic kingdom in Alexandria. The Arabic unit of currency known as dirham known from pre-Islamic times and afterwards, inherited its name from the drachma; the dirham is still the name of the official currencies of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. The Armenian dram also derives its name from the drachma. The following 500 drachma coins have circulated in Greece until the introduction of the Common European Currency on January 1, 2002: Results 1 - 10 of 14Page 12View All 500 drachmas - Spyros Louis Louis, Spyridon (1873-1940) was a Greek water-seller and shepherd, who became a national hero in the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896, when he won the marathon (40 km) event in 2 hours 58 minutes 50 seconds. Having achieved this feat he returned to his village of Maroussi and did not run competitively again.The coin portraits ... Krause - Mishler #179 Diameter 28.5 mm Thickness 1.98 mm Weight 9.54 gr Composition Copper 75%, Nickel 25% Edge Smooth Other information Engraver: Nikiforos Lytras Year Mintage Price Shop 2000 - Uncirculated 4,000,000 pieces € 4.06 Buy 500 drachmas - Coubertin - Vikelas Baron de Pierre Coubertin (1863-1937) was a French educator and thinker, who was the principal organizer of the modern Olympic Games. In the late 1880s Coubertin was commissioned by the French government to form a universal sports association, and in 1894 he invited representatives from several countries to Paris where he propose the organization of ... Krause - Mishler #178 Diameter 28.5 mm Thickness 1.98 mm Weight 9.54 gr Composition Copper 75%, Nickel 25% Edge Smooth Other information Engraver: Nikiforos Lytras Year Mintage Price Shop 2000 - Uncirculated 4,000,000 pieces € 4.06 Buy 500 drachmas - Diagoras The boxer Diagoras of Rhodes (464 BC) belonged to a noble family and during his life, he was known by the whole Greece, as the best example of an athlete. His sons became also Olympic winners and he was fortunate to see them winning, the one in boxing and the other in the pankratium.After their accomplishment they crowned their father's head with ... Krause - Mishler #177 Diameter 28.5 mm Thickness 1.98 mm Weight 9.54 gr Composition Copper 75%, Nickel 25% Edge Smooth Other information Engraver: Nikiforos Lytras Year Mintage Price Shop 2000 - Uncirculated 4,000,000 pieces € 3.78 Buy 500 drachmas - Olympic Flame To symbolize the link between the ancient and modern Olympic Games, each Olympic year officials rekindle the flame from the rays of the sun in Olympia, Greece, the site of the original Olympic Games. A relay of runners then carries the flame to the site of the new games; the lighting of the Olympic cauldron has become the most hallowed moment of the ... Krause - Mishler #176 Diameter 28.5 mm Thickness 1.98 mm Weight 9.54 gr Composition Copper 75%, Nickel 25% Edge Smooth Other information Engraver: Nikiforos Lytras Year Mintage Price Shop 2000 - Uncirculated 4,000,000 pieces € 3.85 Buy 500 drachmas - The Stadium The enchanting setting of ancient Olympia was chosen by the ancient Greeks as the place where the most glorious and renowned Pan-Hellenic games in antiquity were held in 776 BC, which gave birth to the modern Olympic games. One of the most important monuments of Olympia is the Crypt, a long and narrow vaulted passage through which the athletes and judges ... Krause - Mishler #175 Diameter 28.5 mm Thickness 1.98 mm Weight 9.54 gr Composition Copper 75%, Nickel 25% 75% copper - 25% nickel Edge Smooth Other information Engraver: Nikiforos Lytras Year Mintage Price Shop 2000 - Uncirculated 4,000,000 pieces € 3.78 Buy 500 drachmas - The Medal Nike is the personification of victory, as it was depicted in a Greek statue from about 200 bC. Nike of Samothrace (also known as Winged Victory), is one of the most famous Greek sculptures from the Hellenistic period. Formerly located on the island of Samothraki (Samothrace), the sculpture is now part of the collection of the Louvre Museum, Paris, ... Krause - Mishler #180 Diameter 28.5 mm Thickness 1.98 mm Weight 9.54 gr Composition Copper 75%, Nickel 25% Edge Smooth Other information Engraver: Nikiforos Lytras Year Mintage Price Shop 2000 - Uncirculated 4,000,000 pieces € 4.06 Buy 500 drachmas - Dolphin XXI Mediterranean Games in Athens 1991Dolphins are common in Greek mythology and there are many coins from the time which feature a man or boy riding on the back of a dolphin. The Ancient Greeks treated them with welcome; a ship spotting dolphins riding in their wake was considered a good omen for a smooth voyageThe coin is delivered ... Krause - Mishler #157 Diameter 34 mm Thickness 2.22 mm Weight 18 gr Composition 0.9000 Silver .5208 oz. ASW Edge Smooth Year Mintage Price Shop 1991 - Proof 10,000 pieces € 103.50 Buy 500 drachmas - 28th Chess Olympics in Thessaloniki 1988 A total of 107 teams participated in the 28th Chess Olympics, held in Thessaloniki (12th - 30th November 1988) The coin features the most prominent post-Byzantine monument of the city, the White Tower, which formed the southeast corner of the city's Byzantine and Turkish defences. Prior to this, it was the "Bloody Tower", a place of imprisonment ... Krause - Mishler #153 Diameter 34 mm Thickness 2.22 mm Weight 18 gr Composition 0.9000 Silver .5240 oz. ASW Edge Smooth Year Mintage Price Shop 1988 - Uncirculated 3,000 pieces - View 500 drachmas - Los Angeles Olympics Commemorating the Olympic Games of 1984For the third consecutive Olympiad, a boycott prevented all member nations from attending the Summer Games. This time, the Soviet Union and 13 Communist allies stayed home in an obvious payback for the West's snub of Moscow in 1980. The L.A. Olympics were the first privately financed Games ever and made an ... Krause - Mishler #145 Diameter 34 mm Weight 18 gr Composition 0.9000 Silver .5209 oz. ASW Edge Smooth Year Mintage Price Shop 1984 - Uncirculated 50,000 pieces - View 500 drachmas - Racers - Series C XIII Paneuropean Games - Athens 1982The spirit of the Olympic Games is capsured in this unique collection of Greek legal tender coins. The coins trace the history of the games, from their birth in ancient Greece to their revival in the 1896 Olympic Games and finally to the return of the athletes to Athens in 1892. Early records of races ... Krause - Mishler #140 Diameter 36 mm Weight 28.88 gr Composition 0.9000 Silver .8357 oz. ASW Edge Reeded Other information Engraver: Th. Papagiannis Year Mintage Price Shop 1982 - Uncirculated 150,000 pieces - View Results 1 - 10 of 14Page 12View All Greek Drachma Coins 1000 drachmas 500 drachmas 250 drachmas 100 drachmas 50 drachmas 30 drachmas 20 drachmas 10 drachmas 5 drachmas 2 drachmas 1 drachma 50 lepta 20 lepta 10 lepta 5 lepta