Greek lepton pay 'to the very last mite' before being released from prison. In the Hasmonean Kingdom the lepton was first minted under Alexander Jannaeus prior to 76 B.C.E. In modern Greece, "lepton" (modern form: "lepto", λεπτό) is the name of the 1/100 denomination of all the official currencies of the Greek state: the phoenix (1827–1832), the drachma (1832–2001) and the euro (2002–current) – the name is the Greek form of "euro cent". Its unofficial currency sign is Λ (lambda). Since the late 1870s, and until the introduction of the euro in 2001, no Greek coin had been minted with a denomination
Euro in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1 (US$1.1743). Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members, and by March 2002 it had completely replaced the former currencies. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.83 within two years (26 October 2000), it has traded above the U.S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.60 on 18 July 2008. In late 2009, the