When the euro was introduced at the beginning of 1999, it took 280 drachmas to buy a dollar.
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This would be alleviated by converting bonds issued under Greek law to drachmas.
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Later that day you discover that your new drachmas are worth substantially less than the euros you had yesterday.
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Eugene: If Greece leaves the Euro and issues Drachmas, that currency will be devalued by 60% almost overnight.
He extracted an envelope from which slid five watches and three wallets, one containing a note for 200 Greek drachmas.
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Athens has buzzed with rumors over the past year that the Bank of Greece was secretly printing drachmas, Greece's pre-euro currency.
Investors in euro-zone bonds want to be sure they will be repaid, and in euros, not devalued drachmas, liras or pesetas.
It will swap your escudos or drachmas for euro notes and coins.
Bank accounts would be converted from euros to new drachmas, and domestic debt and other contracts would change to the new currency.
Because what taxes were paid would be paid in drachmas, the real revenues of the Greek government would fall from about 90 billion euros per year to just about zero.
Also, of course, if you leave the euro, suddenly all debts are denominated in euros, but all income is in relatively less valuable drachmas: you get an instant debt spiral.
Imagine if you were a Greek citizen and you woke up one morning to find that the euros in your local bank had been converted to new drachmas on a 1:1 basis.
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Lots of luck convincing creditors to accept drachmas.
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