Coinage of modern Serbia

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BACKGROUND

Map of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the year 2000.

Yugoslavia is shown in pink.

In 1991, Croatia, Slovenia, and the Republic of Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia. In March 1992 Bosnia-Herzegovina also declared independence from Yugoslavia.

After the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the subsequent wars, only the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro were left. On 28 April 1992, they formed the new state of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Years later, Milošević resigned from the Yugoslav presidency amid demonstrations following the disputed presidential election of 24 September 2000, and he was arrested by Yugoslav federal authorities on 31 March 2001 on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement.

On 6 November 1999, Montenegro had decided that, besides the Yugoslav dinar, the Deutsche Mark would also be an official currency. On 13 November 2000, the dinar was dropped in Montenegro and the Deutsche Mark (by that time defined in terms of the euro) became the only currency there.

On 15 December 2000 the new democratic government of Yugoslavia nonetheless issued a new coin series of the Yugoslav dinar. Although still called the Yugoslav dinar, it was now only used within Serbia. Apart from the 50 para, then, which was issued in the year 2000 only, this Yugoslav dinar series was issued from 2000 to 2002


See: The final coin series of Yugoslavia.

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SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO.

From Wikipedia:

In 2002, Serbia and Montenegro came to a new agreement regarding continued co-operation. On 4 February 2003, the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia created a loose state union or confederacy—the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, although Yugoslavia was still commonly used. A new constitutional charter was agreed to provide a framework for the governance of the country.

On 21 May 2006, Montenegrins voted in an independence referendum, with 55.5% supporting independence. Fifty-five percent or more of affirmative votes were needed to dissolve the confederation and Yugoslavia. The turnout was 86.3% and 99.73% of the more than 477,000 votes cast were deemed valid.

The subsequent Montenegrin proclamation of independence on 3 June 2006 and the Serbian proclamation of independence on 5 June ended the confederation of Serbia and Montenegro and thus the last remaining vestiges of the former Yugoslavia.

Throughout the period of the confederation of Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia used the Serbian dinar, which replaced the Yugoslav dinar. Montenegro used the euro as its currency of choice, without however being a member of the euro zone.

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Map of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.

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The flag of The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro remained the same as the flag of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which had had the same physical boundaries as the new state union.

The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was still part of Serbia at this point and not an independent state.

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The coat of arms of The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro remained the same as the coat of arms of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which had had the same physical boundaries as the new state union.

The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was still part of Serbia at this point and not an independent state.

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Here you see the current greater coat of arms of Serbia.

It has been amended slightly since its inception in 2004.

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Here you see the current flag of Serbia.

It has been amended slightly since its inception in 2004, to accommodate the amended coat of arms.

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Let's return to 2003 now. The two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, were now in a loose confederation, where each nation was more and more going its own way.

The two republics had always been close and shared many characteristics. Both, for instance, had a majority population of Orthodox Christians, who used the Cyrillic alphabet, unlike the Catholic Croats and Slovenes, who used the Latin alphabet. Most Montenegrins had been well disposed to Serbia, but Slobodan Milošević had triggered the Yugoslav wars of 1991 to 2005, in Croatia and Bosnia, during which many atrocities were committed. Yugoslavia also suffered hyperinflation between 1992 and 1994. When Milošević later triggered the Kosovo war in 1999, with his policies of 'ethnic cleansing', NATO intervened and some locations in Serbia and in Montenegro were bombed. This turned many Montenegrins against continued domination by Serbia.

Milošević was later arrested and put on trial in the Hague (Netherlands) for war crimes. He died in custody in 2006.

Meanwhile, growing separatism in Montenegro meant that the Constitution of Serbia and Montenegro included a clause that allowed a Referendum on the Question of Montenegrin Independence, after a period of three years had passed. That meant in 2006 at the earliest. Back in 2002 and 2003, I remember wondering how long a union could last in which the two different parts used different currencies.

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Common obverse of the coins of the Serbian dinar, 2003 to 2004.

In 2003 the first coins of the modern Serbian dinar were issued.

The common obverse featured the logo of the National Bank of Serbia.

 

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Reverse of the Serbian 1 dinar coin, 2003 to 2004.

The 1 dinar coin was made of nickel-brass.

It was the only coin of this series that was also issued in 2004.


The reverse of the coin featured the building of the National Bank of Serbia.

This was the same design that had appeared on the the Yugoslav 1 dinar of 2000 to 2002.

This new coin series carried forward the architectural themes of the previous Yugoslav dinar.

 

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The building of the National Bank of Serbia.

This building was formerly the National Bank of Yugoslavia.

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The reverse of the 2 dinara coin features the Gračanica Monastery.

The same design appeared on the final 2 dinara coin of Yugoslavia.


A surprising number of the coins of former communist states feature religious themes.

Religion was largely suppressed under communism.

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The Gračanica monastery.

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The reverse of the 5 dinara coin featured the Krušedol Monastery.

This design had not appeared on any Yugoslav coins.

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The Krušedol monastery.