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,
Greek drachma copper, or iron ingots denominated by weight. A hoard of over 150 rod-shaped obeloi was uncovered at Heraion of Argos in Peloponnese. Six of them are displayed at the Numismatic Museum of Athens. It was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name "obol" was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. The notion that "drachma" derived from the word for fistful was recorded by Herakleides of Pontos (387–312 BC) who was informed by the priests of Heraion that Pheidon, king of Argos, dedicated rod-shaped obeloi to Heraion. Similar information