Greek drachmas worth 240 ml euros unclaimed

A record-breaking swap to trim Greece's huge debt this week overshadowed a more modest exchange for now-obsolete drachmas that left the equivalent of 240 million euros unclaimed, a report said on Saturday. Kathimerini daily said nearly 82 billion drachmas ($320 million) in banknotes were unaccounted for when a Bank of Greece deadline for their withdrawal ended on March 1. Drachma coins had been accepted until March 2004. The newspaper said most of the higher-value banknotes -- worth 10,000 and 5,000 drachmas -- had been cashed in over the past 10 years, but many 100 and 50-drachma notes were apparently kept as souvenirs by Greeks and millions of tourists that visit the country every year. The euro replaced the drachma as Greece's legal tender on January 1, 2002. First used by the ancient Greeks, the drachma was reintroduced by the modern Greek state in 1832 after the country's war of independence against the Ottoman Empire. Greece on Friday completed a deal with private creditors to erase 107 billion euros of its near and midterm debt in a bond swap of unprecedented value that is crucial for its economic survival.