Apocalypse 2012

Quiz: CNBC QUIZ: Financial Doomsday

Question 4 of 10

In 1944, what was the highest denomination of Greek currency?

  1. 100,000 drachmae
  2. 100 million drachmae
  3. 100 billion drachmae
  4. 100 trillion drachmae
Correct!

The Greek economy had been devastated by World War II. The nation had borrowed heavily to fund its war effort, and the conflict had hobbled Greece’s ability to generate revenue. When the exiled Greek government finally wrested control of Athens back from the Nazis, it returned to a nation plagued by war and mass unemployment.

By 1944, the rapidly rising inflation had made the drachma almost worthless. Just two years earlier, the highest denomination of Greek currency was 50,000 drachmae, but by November 1944, the highest denomination was 100 trillion. The currency did not stabilize in value until 1953, when Greece joined the Bretton Woods system.