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FlyingElephantWithGiganticEars's avatar

How much is 100 drachma (greek money) in U.S dollars?

Asked by FlyingElephantWithGiganticEars (59points) February 11th, 2010

I’m studying Ancient Greece and I would like to know how much 100 drachmas are worth nowadays :)

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9 Answers

phoebusg's avatar

That is modern drachmae, ancient… uhh… a lot. First coin currency.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=100&From=GRD&To=USD&image.x=31&image.y=18

faye's avatar

When I was there 2 yrs ago they used euros.

phoebusg's avatar

Yes, it is a currency no longer in use. The oldest currency, now it’s Euros ;)

FlyingElephantWithGiganticEars's avatar

I used the link @phoebusg gave me and then it says its 0.4017 something US dollars, which means it’s like 40 cents. It could have been like a lot back then right?

phoebusg's avatar

@FlyingElephantWithGiganticEars if you’re trying to find the worth of an old drachmae, it’s high up there, way too much. In the millions. Or are you looking for – back then what could you buy with a drachmae, or 100? Your question is phrased to – modern value, so I assume current worth.

FlyingElephantWithGiganticEars's avatar

Well, I’m just trying to see how much 100 drachmae would be nowadays because the punishment for rape in Ancient Athens is paying 100 drachmae. And I need to compare it to the punishment nowadays. :( So yeah, current worth.

njnyjobs's avatar

Depending on the period of Ancient Greece you are pertaining to, it may be approximateky 4,000— 5,475 USD . . .

wiki info:

It is generally considered very hard or even meaningless to come up with comparative exchange rates with modern currency due to the fact that the range of products produced by economies of centuries gone by were very different from today, which makes Purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations very difficult. However, some historians and economists have estimated that in the 5th century BCE a drachma had a rough value of 25 USD in the year 1990, 38 USD in 2006 & 40.68 USD in 2008.), whereas classical historians regularly say that in the heyday of ancient Greece (the fifth and fourth centuries) the daily wage for a skilled worker or a hoplite[4] was one drachma, and for a heliast (juror) half a drachma since 425 BC. Modern commentators derived from Xenophon that half a drachma per day (360 days per year) would provide “a comfortable subsistence” for “the poor citizens” (for the head of a household in 355 BC). Earlier in 422 BC, we also see in Aristophanes (Wasps, line 300–302) that the daily half-drachma of a juror is just enough for the daily subsistence of a family of three.

As a rule of thumb, a modern person might think of one drachma as the rough equivalent of a skilled worker’s daily pay in the place where they live (which could be as low as $1 USD, or as high as $100 USD, depending on the country). Perhaps the most appropriate comparison is that with modern-day Athens, where a skilled worker without a university degree earns approximately €40 per day, net of taxes.

FlyingElephantWithGiganticEars's avatar

Thanks you, @phoebusg and @njnyjobs , both helped a lot :)
I’ll say it’s around 4,200 USD. :)

TheJoker's avatar

Impossible to say, they haven’t used the Drachma for ages, it’s the Euro now.

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