The phoenix was the first currency

Currency

In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

 of the modern Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 state. It was introduced in 1828 by Governor John Capodistria and was subdivided into 100 lepta

Greek lepton

Lepton pl. Lepta is the name of various fractional units of currency used in the Greek-speaking world from antiquity until today...

. The name was that of the mythical phoenix

Phoenix (mythology)

The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....

 bird and was meant to symbolize the rebirth of Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. The phoenix replaced the Turkish kuruş (called grosi γρόσι, plural γρόσια grosia by the Greeks) at a rate of 6 phoenix = 1 kuruş.

Only a small number of coins were minted and most transactions in Greece continued to be carried in foreign currency. Lacking precious metals to mint more coins, the government in 1831 issued an additional 300,000 phoenixes as paper currency with no underlying assets to back them. As a result, the paper notes were universally rejected by the public. In 1832, the currency system was reformed and the drachma

Greek drachma

Drachma, pl. drachmas or drachmae was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history:...

was introduced to replace the phoenix at par.