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
International status and usage of the euro euro exceed dollar reserves for the first time; Russia held 47.5% (up from 42% in 2008) in euro and 41.5% (down from 47%) in dollar leading the Central Bank of Russia to announce the euro had become the reserve currency of Russia. The usage of the euro is particularly strong in eastern Europe, not surprisingly in those that have joined the EU, with 54.8% of all loans in Bulgaria, and 85.2% in Latvia before Eurozone accession, being issued in euro rather than the local currencies. The following table shows central banks allocated reserves in euros and US dollar. A currency