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Greek Businesses Now Listing Prices In Drachma

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Earlier today, Kathimerini reported that the Greek government, facing an acute cash crunch and staring down the possibility that the country will soon face a shortage of critical imported goods, is making preparations for the introduction of an alternative currency.

“According to reports, the … parallel currency design process has begun. By today's standards, government funds [will] fail to service the obligation to pay wages and pensions at the end of the month,” the Greek daily said. 

The report, which was promptly dismissed by the finance ministry as “completely unsubstantiated”, comes on the heels of comments from former FinMin Yanis Varoufakis that the Greeks were considering the so-called “California” IOU option. 

Amusingly, Greek businesses do not appear to be waiting for the official word from Athens to fall back on euro alternatives.

The image below was sent in by a tourist who went to a cafe in Greece where the menu prices are now back in Drachma:

 

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Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:46 | 6286090 InjectTheVenom
InjectTheVenom's picture

OXI !!

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:51 | 6286121 froze25
froze25's picture

Back it with Silver and nationalize the Banks.  Watch the money flow into them.  Come on Greece, your so close, just wake up!

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:58 | 6286169 Haus-Targaryen
Haus-Targaryen's picture

*This* makes me happy. 

But hey -- 350€ for fried Zucchini -- could be tasty.   

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:58 | 6286173 Publicus
Publicus's picture

The Greek gods will defeat the evil Germany.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:01 | 6286196 Gavrikon
Gavrikon's picture

We aren't any more evil than any other people.

But our banksters and politicians are just as bad and anyone else's.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:32 | 6286755 0b1knob
0b1knob's picture

Tunney-fish garnished with mashrooms with Grab salad on the side.

English muthafucka.   Do you speak it?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 20:08 | 6287941 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

Weird I didn't see any gefilte fish on the menu.  Must only be served in the bank cafeterias.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:34 | 6286410 richsob
richsob's picture

Give me a break.  The Greeks are suddenly pure as fresh fallen snow?  They're deadbeats, people!  And the Germans are debt collectors.  Not much to admire about either one of them right now.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:42 | 6286456 BeaverCream
BeaverCream's picture

You sound like a bolshevik.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:43 | 6286462 Publicus
Publicus's picture

We are the majority.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:27 | 6286379 Antifaschistische
Antifaschistische's picture

...or maybe, they just left off the decimal point behind the 3

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:58 | 6286170 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

Not so fast.

All the silver may leave the country fast as Drachma are redeemed for it.

That's why Nixon took the US off the gold standard way back cause France was redeeming doillars for US gold!

Same reason the Soviets NEVER allowed rubles to leave the country cause they were backed in gold

Thus the deal to sell Pepsi in the old USSR and get paid with vodka.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:02 | 6286208 F0ster
F0ster's picture

See my comment below

 

"The silver doesn't even need to leave the vaults of China and Russia et al. It just nneds to be moved over on a balance sheet."

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:03 | 6286209 F0ster
F0ster's picture

See my comment below

 

"The silver doesn't even need to leave the vaults of China and Russia et al. It just needs to be moved over on a balance sheet."

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:02 | 6286211 froze25
froze25's picture

Wasn't Kennedy's last executive order 11110 to have a silver backed Treasury note brought back into circulation? 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:12 | 6286267 joseJimenez
joseJimenez's picture

Yeah, and he got lots of lead for his efforts

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:11 | 6286274 pods
pods's picture

No.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:21 | 6286340 g speed
g speed's picture

exec order 11110 ----- read and weep---

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:38 | 6286431 pods
pods's picture

I have actually read IT, the parent EO that it modified, as well as long dissertations about why that whole theory is bunk.

Have a read, and weep or smile; just don't perpetuate a myth:

http://www.freedomforceinternational.org/freedomcontent.cfm?fuseaction=j...

"Let's put this issue into perspective. The proponents of the JFK Myth assert that Kennedy was assassinated because he was about to issue Silver Certificates, thereby denying the bankers their customary interest payments on the nation's currency. However, the reality was just the opposite. Previously, the President could have issued Silver Certificates on his own authority; but, with the signing of EO 11110, he delegated that authority to the Secretary of the Treasury. At that time, the Secretary of the Treasury was Douglas Dillon from a well-known and powerful banking family. That means Kennedy surrendered the power to issue Silver Certificates and gave it to a member of the banking fraternity who could do with it as he pleased "without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President." Dillon, of course, would have strong motive to preserve the dominance of Federal Reserve Notes. The theory that Kennedy was getting ready to issue Silver Certificates is without evidence or logic."

-G. Edward Griffin

The whole thing is an interesting read and breaks things down pretty well.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:54 | 6286516 Alvin Fernald
Alvin Fernald's picture

No need to worry about executve orders. 
See Kennedy and Dimona, or Kennedy and the CIA, or Kennedy and the Vietnam war.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:14 | 6286300 g speed
g speed's picture

promptly recended by LBJ--

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:15 | 6286310 pods
pods's picture

Prove it.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:24 | 6286360 g speed
Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:22 | 6286341 Mercuryquicksilver
Mercuryquicksilver's picture

Absolutley opposite. It was a stop gap or transition to remove silver backing. While there are a great many facts and theories surrounding Kennedy's death, silver backed currency undermining the FED is not viable. Reagan was a much bigger threat than Kennedy.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:45 | 6286470 g speed
g speed's picture

revisionist history at best--pundits and experts that claim the orders intent have no inside knowledge--as written the 11110 order states siver certifiates of any size backed by silver not already promised can be issued by the Tres as they maybe needed to replace the $1 certificates in circulation as they are recalled--

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:00 | 6286577 Mercuryquicksilver
Mercuryquicksilver's picture

Read the Griffin link that Pods referenced above. Read damn it, read. Then read the actual EO's. Read!!!!  Then we will be literally and figurativly on the same page.....  but don't "down vote" me until you fucking read.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:24 | 6286691 pods
pods's picture

It's okay, whether people know the truth or not, the fact ain't gonna change that we're fucked.  So knowing is good, but it ain't gonna change anything.

Enjoy life while shit is still functioning.  

pods

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:59 | 6286183 crazytechnician
crazytechnician's picture

Loads more retailers accepting bitcoin as well , some restaurants are giving 20% discount on bitcoin payments.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:54 | 6287192 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

Yes but only for virtual meal.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:03 | 6286197 F0ster
F0ster's picture

Exactly, I've been saying this for a while too. Greece needs to lease a shit ton of Silver (and or secure it in many other ways) using their national assets as collaterol (BRICs naval bases, pipeline revenues, Silk Rd etc) then back the currency. The silver doesn't even need to leave the vaults of China and Russia et al. It just needs to be moved over on a balance sheet. Nationalize the banks and make a press release confirming this plan and the Greeks will get behind the new Dracma and it will be dramatically more stable than the Euro as the Euro becomes the death scrip it was destined to be.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:08 | 6286255 crazytechnician
crazytechnician's picture

Back a currency with a load of bullion that's not even in your own central bank ?

And why does money need backing anyway , what backs the thing its backed by ?

Surely by backing a currency with gold you end up being forced to manipulate the price of the thing that backs it. What happens if you back your currency with gold and the price of gold crashes ?

Money is a ledger , bitcoin solves this problem.

 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:11 | 6286280 F0ster
F0ster's picture

The silver bullion backing is reflective of the incoming trade investment into Greece which demonstrates creditor economies commitiment to Greece's growth and survival. The Drachma becomes emplematic of Greeces economic survival.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:23 | 6287035 FreeMoney
FreeMoney's picture

The greeks will not back their fiat with silver....ever.  The government is still running primary budget deficits and their plan is to continue running deficit budgets.  It is not likely that France or Germany will be able to pursuade their populations to purchase the newest upcoming Greek Drachma based bonds, so the greeks will have to find other external suckers, or they go the way of zimbabwe and hyperinflate their way to socialst paradise.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 19:19 | 6287778 F0ster
F0ster's picture

You can only have run away deficits until you CAN'T. I think you you're missing the point. The action of backing the Drachma with Silver is the genesis moment of a new monetary order. A monetary order that denies profligate Governement from spending orders of magnitude more than they generate in taxation on oppressive and fundamentally criminal power. The current FIAT (unbacked) monetary system is destroying the modern world it helped to create. This is due entirely to it's ability to be printed and controlled in infinitum. Either we do this peacfully or we do this violently. Either way it's going to happen. I prefer to take advantage of moments like this when Greece can peacefully alter the course of monetary history for the better. 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 17:05 | 6287253 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

Money and currency are not the same thing.

The only thing bitcoin solves is taking the ability to create currency out of the hands of governments and bankers.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 17:11 | 6287289 ATM
ATM's picture

Money is a unit of account, a medium of exchange AND a store of VALUE.

Bitcoin is a unit of ledger and a medium of exchange but it is certainly not a store of value.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:36 | 6287101 gcjohns1971
gcjohns1971's picture

Words and sayings used to mean stuff.

"Possession is 9/10ths of the Law"

"If you can't touch it, you don't own it."

"Gold is a promise, but a Promise ain't Gold!"

 

So, what is the asset backing value of, say 2000 tons of Silver that you do not have?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:16 | 6286992 all-priced-in
all-priced-in's picture

deleted - already answered

 

 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:52 | 6286129 OrangeJews
OrangeJews's picture

I'm so happy for them I just want to give Greece a hug!

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:58 | 6286172 zorba THE GREEK
zorba THE GREEK's picture

Does this mean that my old drachmas are good again?
If so I am rich. Now where did I put those 10,000,000
Drachma notes?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:25 | 6287046 FreeMoney
FreeMoney's picture

You should be able to get a gyro and a coke for that....

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 17:12 | 6287291 ATM
ATM's picture

Nope, only one egg.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 17:19 | 6287310 tc06rtw
tc06rtw's picture

 
              … medium.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:42 | 6286455 Larry Dallas
Larry Dallas's picture

My, how quickly the party and celebrations ended.

 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:49 | 6286849 JuliaS
JuliaS's picture

Drachma or Draghima?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:46 | 6286091 Fidel Sarcastro
Fidel Sarcastro's picture

Very intersting. Hope it spreads!

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:46 | 6286093 Fred Garvin
Fred Garvin's picture

Now if they can just find someone to loan them some Drachmas.....

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:49 | 6286107 BoPeople
BoPeople's picture

That is the beauty of interlocked central banking. All they have to do is find another partner or two and they all just loan each other money.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:55 | 6286158 the phantom
the phantom's picture

Unfortunately, my sources say tsipras struck a deal, i.e. caved, to the troika. To be announced in the next day or so. I hope it's not true, but it's coming from a well connected top exec of a large Greek business. A lot of misinformation out there, let's see what happens.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:59 | 6286180 kliguy38
kliguy38's picture

you're right......he was made an offer he couldn't refuse....so was the finmin

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:04 | 6286224 froze25
froze25's picture

Enter Golden Dawn party now that they have gotten the people so pissed they will see no other alternative.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:43 | 6286461 jaxville
jaxville's picture

Golden Dawn was making serious headway into the mainstream until they were largely outlawed.   So what else is new?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:45 | 6286463 jaxville
jaxville's picture

Having a really hard time accessing ZH today. Lots of failed connection messages

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:51 | 6286119 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Way too true.

No soup for you, Fred;)

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:53 | 6286138 NihilistZero
NihilistZero's picture

Now if they can just find someone to loan them some Drachmas.....

Better yet they can issue debt free Drachmas backed by the full faith and credit of their economic agreements with Russia.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:47 | 6286094 DIgnified
DIgnified's picture

Good.  Now just back that currency with whatever gold and/or silver they have and they're in business. 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:51 | 6286122 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

Only after they shrink their government and start producing more basic necessities locally.  Then they're in business.

 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:53 | 6286143 froze25
froze25's picture

The production of physical items is key, i agree with you.  Farm and mine like it's 1999 or something.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:59 | 6286186 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

They could do a lot with farming and textiles.  With farming, they'd probably be able to pull off a leather industry.  That is basic food and clothing right there.  While heavy industry can be introduced to such ventures, it is not necessary.  Throw some basic building materials in for basic housing maintenance and they might be getting somewhere.  Then, work a deal with Russia for natural gas with the quid pro quo of hosting a pipeline and some basic trade and Greece could start to adjust to a different standard of living. 

 

But, IMO, the Greek people are going to push for BAU until it is either too painful or the EU pisses them off too much. 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:04 | 6286600 Mercuryquicksilver
Mercuryquicksilver's picture

Yeah, or lumber and other natural resources..... LOL

 

Feta, oil and fish.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:55 | 6286159 NihilistZero
NihilistZero's picture

Good.  Now just back that currency with whatever gold and/or silver they have and they're in business.

Far more practical to just peg it to some commodity index.  Preferably for them the Russian Energy that will pass through Greece on it's way to Europe.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:48 | 6286097 mtndds
mtndds's picture

OXI, OXI, OXI!!!!!!!!!!  muthafukas!!

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:48 | 6286100 large_wooden_badger
large_wooden_badger's picture

"Aha!" says the tourist. "Where can I get some drachmas?"

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:52 | 6286131 angel_of_joy
angel_of_joy's picture

They'll gladly accept Euros at a very convenient rate of exchange...

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:49 | 6286104 wstrub
wstrub's picture

If tourists have to buy Drachma..............Greece gets whatever they are selling.  Makes sense.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:54 | 6286134 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

AND GREECE GETS TO KEEP IT!

I wonder if that can work!?

Cause the debt owed to the ECB, IMF is in Euros not Drachma

So if a flood of tourist dollars, pounds, euros comes in to Greece, do they get to keep it as Drachma?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:40 | 6286442 Kaervek
Kaervek's picture

Lol no.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:50 | 6286109 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

How many Drachmas to the Euro today?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:53 | 6286140 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Not more than one thousand..., yet.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:50 | 6286111 youngman
youngman's picture

They can only have government employees or pensioners as customers....oh that is right..that is everyone....

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:50 | 6286115 astoriajoe
astoriajoe's picture

Like Mr. Panos says, Greeks have Drachma stored under the bed.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:51 | 6286116 DutchR
DutchR's picture

Strange, this looks exactly like the menu from the Brussels restaurant where the Top Euro Brass dines, exept there it is in euro's.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:51 | 6286118 Crtrvlt
Crtrvlt's picture

the restaurant didn't put a comma in the prices.  these are euro prices.  

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 13:56 | 6286166 robertocarlos
robertocarlos's picture

I thought 300 Euros was a bit much for a plate of french fried potaters but hey it's Europe.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:03 | 6286213 HenryHall
HenryHall's picture

Its 300 cents. 300 Euro cents or 3 Euros.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:01 | 6286195 CouldBeWorse
CouldBeWorse's picture

Very Funny!   Who has drachma's to pay the restaurant bill?  

(Although I do have some old Deutschmark I never turned in.  Hope springs eternal it may once again be worth more than the paper its printed on.)

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:32 | 6286406 slightlyskeptical
slightlyskeptical's picture

I will gladly pay Drachmas on Monday for a Euro Hamburger today.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:31 | 6287071 BearOfNH
BearOfNH's picture

Likewise, I've got some AMEX DM travelers checks, originally kept as insurance against a US currency meltdown. Now it looks like the Euro is more likely to melt, taking the DM with it.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:02 | 6286205 Furrycushion
Furrycushion's picture

Ask what the price is if you pay him under the table.  Or is everything without taxes anyway?  

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:14 | 6286304 zenon
zenon's picture

Looks to me that those are prices in Euros where the taverna owner forgot to put a decimal after the first digit. Oh well..

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:15 | 6286305 Raul44
Raul44's picture

No, these numbers are in euros.

 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:17 | 6286320 gra_msi
gra_msi's picture

Hey guys ¡! 

Wake up ¡! 

Greeks will be back to the drachma and will never come back to the Euro, just because more than 300.000 million EUR debt is always good not to pay.

Regards ¡!

 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:19 | 6286333 economessed
economessed's picture

Grab Salad?  How much for that, and does it come with silverware?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:26 | 6286371 Anopheles
Anopheles's picture

Those prices couldn't be in Drachma.   If they were, there would have to have another 6 zeros...   

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:26 | 6286701 Jethro
Jethro's picture

Thats what I was thinking...they need a wider column for more zeros.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:56 | 6286535 ali-ali-al-qomfri
ali-ali-al-qomfri's picture

Draghi-ma, just call it what it is.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 14:57 | 6286539 foxmuldar
foxmuldar's picture

400 euros for Pasturna pie. Has anyone here tried it? Is that greek for Pizza pie. haha! Pastrami perhaps? 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:00 | 6286571 foxmuldar
foxmuldar's picture

Waiter,Ill have the stuffed potato and fried eggplant and a glass of your best red wine. And make that quick. 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:01 | 6286584 Tarshatha
Tarshatha's picture

The beginning of the end of the ECB, it's a beautiful thing.

The contagion is going to be fun to watch.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:05 | 6286593 forgotten in th...
forgotten in the South_born somewhere else's picture

Now that Drachma has returned, it is time for the Dixie to come back!

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:13 | 6286650 reTARD
reTARD's picture

Popping some popcorn now.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:30 | 6286743 steelrules
steelrules's picture

Thanks, made me hungry. I think I'll visit Greece one day, beautiful country.

 

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 15:37 | 6286788 mantrid
mantrid's picture

are these prices qutoed in millions already? because they doesn't look like all that 'wonderful devaluation' was taken in the account already.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:28 | 6287064 gcjohns1971
gcjohns1971's picture

Few zero's short.

Before Greece entered the Euro it was in its best financial condition...EVER!

That is, after all, how it got in.  Aren't Blankfein & Draghi proud?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:38 | 6287113 Stormtrooper
Stormtrooper's picture

Still can't find the section in the Constitution that covers the whole "executive order" thingy.  Or where the President has any authority over the issue of money.  My copy must have had those sections edited out.  Hope the states will be able to clear up the confusion for the feds during their Constitutional convention.  The best way for them to do that would be to amend the feds out of existence.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:48 | 6287149 gcjohns1971
gcjohns1971's picture

Let's see...

Is that in the "Weights and Measures" clause in Article I. Section 8? No...

Is it in the "Prohibitions to States" clause of Article I. Section 10?  No...

 

Actually, it doesn't appear to authorize a national currency at all.

I suppose that makes sense.

The US currency upon adoption was 'The Dollar" which was a SPANISH SILVER COIN, that when physically cut like a pizza was called "Pieces of Eight".

But they did have authority to coin Dollars.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 16:40 | 6287123 gcjohns1971
gcjohns1971's picture

Words and sayings used to have meaning.

"Possession is 9/10ths of the Law"

"If you can't touch it, you don't own it."

"Gold is a promise, but a Promise ain't Gold!"

 

So, what is the asset backing value of, say 2000 tons of Silver that you do not have?

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 17:01 | 6287229 UncleChopChop
UncleChopChop's picture

how would any restaurant proprietor in greece have any clue how to set the exchange into new drachmas? never mind which of his customers has them in their wallets to pay with? they held on to their old cash before the euro change-over, and he's going to accept that as tender? 

unless i'm missing something, the premise of this article seems like a joke to me. then again, like so many other articles here on zh, the real value tends to be in the comments. thanks for keeping it lively all.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 17:16 | 6287296 erk
erk's picture

Looks like BS to me, there is no relaunch of Drachmas hence no offical exchange rate to them.

Also the text on the bottom of the menu looks well worn so it's not just written, who knows when. Could be prices in some other currency not Drachmas

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