A Little History First:
 
The Greek monarchy, imposed by foreign powers after the War of Independence, was never an organic institution. It was a political transplant, alien to the democratic instincts of the population.
 
Modern Greek history is full of monarchs who failed—not just because they were incompetent or unlucky but because the monarchy itself clashed with the core of Greek political culture.
 
Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece’s first governor, ruled with an iron fist and paid the price with his life in 1831 when he was assasinated.
 
The Bavarian prince Otto became king in 1832, but his repeated conflicts with Greek political aspirations led to his exile in 1862. George I was assassinated in 1913, and his successors met similarly turbulent ends. Constantine I’s disastrous handling of the Greco-Turkish War led to his exile in 1922.
 
At the same time, George II saw the monarchy abolished in 1924, and it took a coup and the strong resilience of the Metaxas fascist dictatorship to restore the monarchy and keep him in power.  Constantine I returned to Greece in 1946 and resumed the monarchy in 1947. 
 
King Constantine II was the last monarch of Greece, reigning from 1964 to 1967 and a military junta ruled from 1967 to 1973.
 
Following the fall of the junta, in a 1974 referendum, the Greek people voted to abolish the monarchy and created a constitutional government. Constantine II return to Greece in 2013 to live out his life and passed away on January 10, 2023.
 
NOW About This Coin:
 
This rare uncirculated 1973 1 Drachma coin is in top condition with the reverse side featuring a Phoenix rising from its flames and the silhouette of the soldier bearing a rifle with fixed bayonet, the symbol of the military Junta that ended in 1973 with a Greek constitutional government and a new beginning.  Many want to forget those last 7 years between 1967 and 1973. On the obverse side is Constantine II.  This is a sought after historic collector's coin, of copper-brass composition and inspired by a new constitutional government.