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Stamp Desk / Money talks

Greece, 1861

Head of Hermes in a winged hat, in orange, with a dotted postmark.

Head of Hermes in a winged hat, in orange, with a dotted postmark; stamp issued by Kingdom of Greece, 1861
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Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.

How to read it

ΛΕΠΤ for lepta and the head of Hermes.

  1. 10 ΛΕΠΤ.
  2. ΕΛΛ. ΓΡΑΜΜ.
Inscription
ΕΛΛ. ΓΡΑΜΜ. · 10 ΛΕΠΤ.
Meaning
ΛΕΠΤΑ (lepta): the Greek hundredth of a drachma.
Issued by
Kingdom of Greece
Today
Greece
Year
1861. First issued October 1861; this copy is an Athens printing.
Made by
Désiré-Albert Barre (engraving, died 1878)

One fact

The first set had seven values from 1 to 80 lepta, all with the same Hermes head in different colours.

Source and public-domain rule

Creators died more than 70 years ago. Engraver died 1878. Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, counted from 1 January of the year after death. Every named designer and engraver of the stamp died before 1 January 1956; any contributor who was never named counts as anonymous, whose term is 70 years from publication, and the stamp was published before 1956. Legal sources: Directive 2006/116/EC, Art. 1(1) life + 70 years; Art. 1(3) anonymous works 70 years from publication; Art. 7(1) comparison of terms for works from outside the EU; Art. 8 terms run from 1 January, Switzerland, Norway.

Scan: Greece186210l.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1284705789), licence templates {{PD-old-100}}. Downloaded 2026-10-19, sha256 24a7bc3dc62f…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-19 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a human rights review is pending. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.