A denomination of coinage in ancient Greece; later a unit of weight in the apothecaries’ system of measure (1/8 ounce apoth. or 3.89 gram.) From the Ancient Greek δραχμή ’a weight and coin‘.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
Has the a of drachm and hammer.
– Gerard Nolst Trenité, The Chaos
Knowledge Guild 
/dræm/
The monetary system of Athens had as a base the drachma of Attica which was a silver coin that weighed 4.36 grams. The obolos was the division of drachma. Six oboloi made one drachma. There were also coins that were more valuable than the drachma: the dekadrachmon (ten drachmae) the minae (70 drachmae, later 100), and the talanton (60 minae, or 6000 drachmae), among others.
To put that in perspective, in Classical Greece, in order to buy a pork steak you needed one Athenian drachma; for a loaf of bread hand you merely needed to pay one obolos. One drachma was also the daily salary of an unskilled worker, whereas skilled workers like sculptors and doctors could make up to 6 six drachmae a day.
Some people have argued – perhaps jokingly – that the strength of a country’s economy can be measured by the wages of its prostitutes. In ancient Greece, one hour with a temple prostitute cost the daily salary of a middle class worker.
– Courtesy of akrokorinthos.blogspot.nl