Designed for wartime needs, but never actually issued

Abstract

Seeking funds to finance the war against the Turks which it entered in July 1876, Serbia, ruled by Prince Milan Obrenović, passed the decision on issuing paper banknotes with no backing in precious metals. They were printed at the national printing house in Belgrade. About 1500 pieces of banknotes of the Main National Treasury of the Principality of Serbia were printed in different denominations: 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 dinars. These banknotes were never actually in circulation, being the test prints only, used to check whether the machines and technology for their future printing were working properly. They are extremely rare and popular with collectors. The most interesting ones are the 1-dinar banknotes because they have no reverse side, the 5-dinar banknotes because they were painted by the poet and painter Đura Jakšić, and the 10-dinar ones because they feature the drawings of the painter Đorđe Krstić.

Keywords

• Prince Milan Obrenović
• banknote
• 1 dinar
• 5 dinars
• 10 dinars
• 50 dinars
• 100 dinars