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V15 2012 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 6, February 5, 2012, Article 13

MORE BANKNOTE MATH: GREEK INFLATION NOTES

Martin Purdy writes:

The "math question" about the Turkish 100-lira notes was interesting - assuming the man who made the claims about Nelson's Column wasn't just picking numbers out of thin air, could he perhaps have been talking about laying the notes end to end rather than stacking them?

Removing my tongue from my cheek, I have another "banknote math question", which I asked on an on-line forum a couple of years ago and got precisely zero answers. Perhaps one of our readers may be able to assist. The questions relate to the high-denomination notes of Greece issued during WW2 and the way they are/were listed in the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money:

"While doing some research I noticed an inconsistency in the descriptions of Greece, P134 and P135, in SCWPM, Vol. 2, 10th ed., pp. 549-550:

"P134 (10 billion dr.) is listed as "10,000,000,000 drachmai" "P135 (100 billion dr.) is listed as "100,000,000,000,000 drachmai"

"No problems with the 10 or the 100, but the "billion" part is problematic. The notes use the same word in each case (disekatommyria), so both can't be correct. I do not claim to be an expert, but always assumed that Greece used the "German" billion (i.e. 10^12) rather than the "US" billion (10^9). Part of my reasoning was that P133 (2x 10^9 drachmai) bears the Greek denomination DUO KHILIADES EKATOMMYRIA (i.e. two thousand million), not *DUO DISEKATOMMYRIA (two billion).

"One or t'other needs correcting, in any case. Can anyone offer more conclusive evidence in either direction please?"

I realise my 10th edition is ageing somewhat by now, and this may well have been attended to, but I'd still like to sort out the math/language question even just for my own education.

Great question - does anyone know? -Editor

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: BANKNOTE MATH QUESTIONED (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n05a24.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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