bavarikon4UPaper money in Serbia
The Principality of Serbia was established in 1817. Initially, it remained part of the Ottoman Empire, but full independence was achieved in 1878. The Kingdom of Serbia was founded a few years later in 1882. It existed until 1918 and was then absorbed into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes or the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Serbia’s eventful history is reflected in its paper money issues. Its first paper money was issued by the Principality in 1876. The banknotes show the regents of the Obrenović dynasty. The House of Obrenović was the founder of the Serbian principality and ruled Serbia from 1815 to 1842 and 1858 to 1903. After the foundation of the Kingdom of Serbia, the National Bank of Serbia issued banknotes.
The Austro-Hungarian Bank’s banknotes initially circulated in Yugoslavia. They were stamped by the Ministry of Finance. These notes were eventually exchanged for new Ministry of Finance state notes. In 1920, the National Bank of Serbia was transformed by law into the National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It issued banknotes in the “dinar” currency, also introduced in 1920. The name of the bank was changed to the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. With the occupation of Yugoslavia by German troops in 1941, the National Bank was liquidated.
Germany and Italy occupied the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941. The King and the government fled to London into exile. The national territory was fragmented: while Slovenia was divided between Germany, Italy and Hungary, Serbia remained militarily occupied as a vassal state. Croatia was united with Bosnia and Herzegovina as the "Independent State of Croatia". Serbia and Croatia each issued their own banknotes during this period.
After the end of the war, the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was founded in 1945 with the six constituent republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Initially, the state issued banknotes, but from 1946 onwards, the specially established National Bank of the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia issued banknotes.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Paper money in Europe" of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes).