The Greek drachma will be traded in for the euro

Europe’s oldest currency, the 2,650-year-old Greek drachma, has endured war and turmoil. Friday, it finally met its match in the euro and was traded on the international market for the last time. GREECE OFFICIALLY joins the European Union’s single currency Monday, and financial institutions will begin trading in the euro Wednesday. Banks and the Athens Stock Exchange will remain closed Tuesday to facilitate the transition. The Greek central bank spent money for the last time Friday to fix the drachma at its central parity rate, selling $139.5 million to keep the drachma up. The drachma — meaning “handful” in ancient Greek — was the standard silver coin of Greek antiquity. It is believed to have been first minted in about 650 B.C. in what is now western Turkey and was originally worth a handful of arrows. Produced separately by different city-states, the drachma was widely used in the ancient world. Spread by trade and conquest — it was the coin of Alexander the Great — it has been found as far away as Afghanistan. It also served as the model for another coin, the dirham, which is still used as an expression of currency in the Islamic world today.