Greece 20 lepta 1883 A - George I

The coin's story

This small 20 lepta coin in 835 thousandths silver, weighing only one gram, belongs to the series struck from 1874 to 1883 in the name of George I, King of the Hellenes. George I, a Danish prince and younger son of the future King Christian IX, was elected at the age of 17 by the Greek National Assembly and reigned from 1863 until his assassination in Thessaloniki on 18 March 1913. The portrait of the young King was engraved by Désiré-Albert Barre, engraver general of the French coinage, who signs ΒΑΡΡΕ. The reverse bears a wreath and the legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ (Kingdom of Greece). The coin was struck at the Paris Mint, whose letter A it bears. It was struck to the standards of the Latin Monetary Union, the drachma then being worth one franc.