THE FIRST GREEK STATE

Greece was recognised as an independent, sovereign state by the London Protocol of 3 February 1830, signed by Great Britain, France and Russia. Its borders included the Peloponnese, the Argosaronic islands, Central Greece (up to the Spercheios-Acheloos rivers borderline), Euboea, the Sporades and the Cyclades. The Treaty of Constantinople (July 1832) extended Greek territory to the Ambracian-Pagasetic gulfs line, while the London Protocol of 1832 awarded Greece the district of Lamia. This coin portrays Theodoros Kolokotronis (1770-1843), a pre-eminent military commander in the Greek War of Independence, whose strategic brilliance, experience and far-sightedness were decisive in major Greek victories (Dervenakia, Tripolitsa).