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,
Mark (currency) and could be transferred by endorsement, and were accepted as payment. They could also be redeemed. This currency proved to be very stable. Following German unification in 1871, the country adopted the German gold mark (officially known just as the "mark") as its currency in 1873. The name was taken from the mark banco. Initially, the coins and banknotes of the various predecessor currencies, such as the , the , and the guilder, continued to circulate, and were treated as fixed multiples of the new unit of account, similarly to the introduction period of the euro between 1999 and 2002.