Greek drachma Greek drachma Drachma ( , ; pl. "drachmae" or "drachmas") was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: It was also a small unit of weight. The name "drachma" is derived from the verb (, "(I) grasp"). It is believed that the same word with the meaning of "handful" or "handle" is found in Linear B tablets of the Mycenean Pylos. Initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of six "oboloí" or "obeloí" (metal sticks, literally "spits") used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC and being a form of "bullion": bronze,
Reserve currency before the beginning of the worldwide credit crunch related recession and Eurozone crisis, which harmed the euro and slowed its adoption. Since 2009, the reserve currency use of the euro has continued to drop, down to 23.9 percent in 2013. The Dutch guilder was the "de facto" reserve currency in Europe in 17th and 18th centuries. The United Kingdom's pound sterling was the primary reserve currency of much of the world in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. The emergence of the USA as an economic superpower, and the establishment of the U.S. Federal Reserve System