Bankarstvo (Jan 2017)
Numerous dilemmas surrounding the 1917 nickel coins
Abstract
The Law on Extraordinary Loans Amounting to 200 Million Dinars and the Minting of Silver and Nickel Coins in 1916 was the legal basis for minting the 5-, 10-, and 20-para nickel coins of the Kingdom of Serbia featuring the year 1917 as their minting year. Some authors believe that these coins were minted in the Minting House in Paris, whereas the others agree that they were certainly minted in France, but in a still unidentified minting house. There are authors who in recent reference literature underline the possibility of their minting in the USA Gorham Company, in Providence, Rhode Island. These coins had all the characteristics of the nickel coins of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1883, 1884, 1904 and 1912. Although, according to the Law, the Minister of Finance was authorized to mint 10 million dinars of these nickel coins, only 5 million pieces in each denomination were actually minted, in the total nominal value of just 1,750,000 dinars. The general opinion is that after the war only a small amount of these nickel coins reached Serbia, because the ships transporting the Serbian coins from the minting house sank on their way. The only varying aspect in this explanation is the location from which the ships were sailing towards Corfu, i.e. from the USA or from France. These coins stopped being legal tender as of 30 November 1931.
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