The name drachma is derived from the verb δράσσομαι (drássomai, "to grasp"). Initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of six oboloí or obeloí (metal sticks, literally "spits") used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC and being literally a form of "bullion": bronze, copper, or iron ingots denominated by weight. A hoard of over 150 rod-shaped obeloi were uncovered at Heraion of Argos in Peloponnese. Six of them are displayed at the Numismatic Museum of Athens. It was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek and Roman mints, and the name 'obol' was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. The notion that "drachma" derived from the word for fistful was recorded by Herakleides of Pontos (387-312 BC) who was informed by the priests of Heraion that Pheidon, king of Argos, dedicated rod-shaped obeloi to Heraion. A similar information about Pheidon's obeloi was also recorded at the Parian Chronicle. Ancient Greek coins seldom had official names. Each city would mint its own and have them stamped with recognizable symbols of the city, along with suitable inscriptions, and they would often be referred to either by the name of the city or of the image depicted (e.g. the Aeginetan "turtles"). The exact exchange value of each was determined by the quantity and quality of the metal, which reflected on the reputation of each mint.

The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachm ("four drachma") coin, and the Corinthian stater were perhaps the most widely used coins in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great. It featured the helmeted profile bust of Athena on the obverse (front) and an owl on the reverse (back). In daily use they were called γλαῦκαι glaukai (owls), hence the proverb Γλαῦκ’ Ἀθήναζε, 'an owl to Athens', referring to something that was in plentiful supply, like 'coals to Newcastle'. The reverse is featured on the national side of the modern Greek 1 euro coin.

Drachmas were minted on different weight standards at different Greek mints. The standard that came to be most commonly used was the Athenian or Attic one, which weighed a little over 4.3 grams.

After Alexander the Great's conquests, the name drachma was used in many of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the Middle East, including the Ptolemaic kingdom in Alexandria. The Arabic unit of currency known as dirham (in the Arabic language, درهم), known from pre-Islamic times and afterwards, inherited its name from the drachma or didrachm (δίδραχμον, 2 drachmae); the dirham is still the name of the official currencies of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. The Armenian dram also derives its name from the drachma.

Value

It is generally considered very hard or even meaningless to come up with comparative exchange rates with modern currency because the range of products produced by economies of centuries gone by were very different from today, which makes Purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations very difficult. However, some historians and economists have estimated that in the 5th century BC a drachma had a rough value of 25 U.S. dollars (in the year 1990 - equivalent to 41 USD in 2009), whereas classical historians regularly say that in the heyday of ancient Greece (the fifth and fourth centuries) the daily wage for a skilled worker or a hoplite was one drachma, and for a heliast (juror) half a drachma since 425 BC.vModern commentators derived from Xenophon that half a drachma per day (360 days per year) would provide "a comfortable subsistence" for "the poor citizens" (for the head of a household in 355 BC). Earlier in 422 BC, we also see in Aristophanes (Wasps, line 300-302) that the daily half-drachma of a juror is just enough for the daily subsistence of a family of three.

As a rule of thumb, a modern person might think of one drachma as the rough equivalent of a skilled worker's daily pay in the place where they live (which could be as low as $1 USD, or as high as $100 USD, depending on the country). Perhaps the most appropriate comparison is that with modern-day Athens, where a skilled worker without a university degree earns approximately €40 per day, net of taxes.

Fractions and multiples of the drachma were minted by many states, most notably in Ptolemaic Egypt, which minted large coins in gold, silver and bronze.

Notable Ptolemaic coins included the gold pentadrachm and octadrachm, and silver tetradrachm, decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm. This was especially noteworthy as it would not be until the introduction of the Guldengroschen in 1486 that coins of substantial size (particularly in silver) would be minted in significant quantities.

For the Roman successors of the drachma, see Roman provincial coins.

Historic currency divisions

8 chalkoi = 1 obolus

6 oboloi = 1 drachma

100 drachmas = 1 mina (or mna)

60 minae = 1 Athenian Talent (Athenian standard)

Minae and talents were never actually minted: they represented weight measures used for commodities (e.g. grain) as well as metals like silver or gold.

Drachma from Lucania, c. 535–510 BC

Tetradrachm from Athens about 450 BC. Athena on the obverse, owl on the reverse