Medieval Serbian Coins

The fundamental symbols that characterize the origin and nature of a
medieval European state are far better encapsulated through an analy-
sis of its art forms than one of its legislative proceedings. Some of the
strongest of these basic national attributes can be found in a nation’s
coins and can give valuable insight into its political, culture, economic,
and military history and traditions.
Of early medieval Balkan societies, it was only Serbs, along with
Bulgars and the Byzantine Empire, that took part in the creation of
their own metal currencies. While this practice would become far
more standardized in the periods to follow, some Balkan societies
would wait as long as the early twentieth century before fully engaging
in it.
Throughout the middle Ages, several distinct Serbian states were
formed. Some coexisted during similar time frames, while others
existed exclusively on their own. Among the longest lasting and most
influential of these states were: Duklja (Zeta), Travunija, Hum and
Zahumjle, Paganija, Raska, Bosnia and Srem. Byzantine coins were
used and present in many of these territories; a common regional
phenomenon considering the long held dominance of the Byzantine
Empire throughout most of the Balkan Peninsula.
Historically it was assumed that the smelting of domestic metal
currency began in Serbia during the reign of its first king, Stefan II Ne-
manja, sometime in the very early 13th century. Recent research sug-
gests that the process of making a unique domestic currency did not
begin until the reign of his son, Stefan Radoslav, somewhere between
1227 and 1234.
Looking towards to the Byzantine Empire for example, King Rado-
slav of Raska began the creation of the first silver and copper coins.
These early coins were concave in shape, had text in Greek (rather than
in Serbian, which was still literarily young at the time), and remain
today only in incredibly small quantities. Interestingly, they are also
the only medieval Serbian coins ever made from materials besides
silver alone, namely copper and gold. A high regional abundance of
silver ores forced subsequent monarchs through this transition.
Depending on the state in question and time period, Serbian coins
throughout the middle ages went by two different names: the Dinar
and the Perper. The former has its origins from the old Roman coin,
the “Denarius”, meaning “Tenth”, whilst the perper is of Byzantine
origin. While the dinar remains a traded currency to this day, the
perper ceased to be produced with the dissolution of the Kingdom of
Montenegro in 1918.
Records tell us that King Stefan Uros Dragutin, in 1276, near an
old mining town in what is now northern Montenegro, produced an
unusually pretty silver coin that resembled the Venetian Matapan (a
form of Venetian currency). As more of these Serbian “Matapans”
entered production and circulation, they quickly became a popular
coin, seeing trade all throughout the Mediterranean, and as far away
as mainland Spain.
The usage of these coins became so widespread, so as to cause one
of history’s earliest negative demand shocks to competing currencies.
Venice, which was a dominant trading Republic of the time, was espe-
cially unsatisfied with this arrangement, and in a bid to eliminate Serb-
ian coins from the international market, decreed their use illegal and
undertook significant measures to see the destruction of these coins.
This early Serbian currency posed enough of a nuisance, even threat, to
the Venetian authority that it receives mention even in Dante’s “Divine
Comedy”,
“And Portugal should be held in blame, with Norway and the Ra-
scian who laid his eyes on Venetian coins and forged his own ill-fame.”
(Dante Alighieri, Paradise, Canto XIX, Eagle speaking)
It is of particular interest that Dante placed this detail in the realm
of heaven.
Legend has it that the source of many early Rascian coins, the town
of Mojkovac, got its name from an amalgamation of three words:
“Moj” meaning “My”, “Kovani” meaning “forged”, and “Novac” mean-
ing “coins”. While never truly verified, the likelihood that this is the
authentic origin is rather high, especially considering the close prox-
imity of several old silver mines and mints. Indeed, the practice of
naming location based on their service to the king is not exclusive to
this location. The monastery “Naupare” in central Serbia was once the
king’s own treasury and money vault. On way to combat enemies in
the area, it is said that Czar Lazar (1329-1389) looked in the direction of
the monastery and proclaimed that “they [the enemy] have arrived 'Na
um pare', 'to our money'”.
Although early ventures into domestic minting were very conserv-
ative, borrowing heavily from Byzantine and Venetian models, later
Serbian coins would be shaped (literally) to best suit the needs and
demands of the domestic economy and authority. Rulers and Saints
were the most common depictions on these coins, while accompany-
ing texts were done in a variety of languages including Latin, Italian,
Greek, and old Serbian.
The minting of coins in medieval Serbia was first set to written law
as part of a much larger codex in 1354. This codex is one of the earliest
attempts at a universal and an all-encompassing list of laws in Europe
following the collapse of the Western Roman state. Casually translat-
ed, the first law pertaining to the smelting of coins stated: “Those in-
volved in the minting of coins in the dukedoms and lands that belong
to the Czar may only
The creator of the aforementioned law codex, and the most notable
of medieval Serbian autarchs, Stefan Dušan, holds particular import-
ance to the evolution of Serbian currency. Throughout his reign as
king (1331-1346) and later as Czar (1346-1355) the production of currency
in Serbia would surpass even that of its strongest neighbors. Whether
in terms of number, variety, or aesthetic beauty, this period in the de-
velopment and production of medieval Serbian coins is regarded as the
greatest. The minting of domestic money was continued in Serbia by
subsequent leaders right up until the fall of the despotate in 1459.
Following the Turkish conquest of the Serbian state in the 15 th cen-
tury, the production of domestic currency ceased. Instead, Ottoman
currency prevailed, and remained as the sole legal tender of Serbian
lands until well into the later half of the 19 th century.

The First Modern Dinar
Following Serbia’s defacto independence in the early 19th century, and
in the time preceding the foundation of a single national currency, a
wide variety of European and Turkish coins were used in domestic
commerce. Records indicate that at least 43 different forms of foreign
currencies were employed in Serbia, 10 of which were gold, 28 silver,
and 5 copper. At a conference held in 1868, in the city of Kragujevac, it
was decided that a new, exclusively Serbian currency would be formed.
These early coins were minted in Vienna, Austria and came in copper
divisions of 1, 5, and 10 “para”. They featured the image of prince Mi-
hajlo Obrenovic; the head of state at the time. What makes these early
Serbian coins especially unique and collectible is the appearance of an
occasional spelling mistake. Some coins, of the 1 Para denomination,
featured on their obverse side the correct phrase “Obrenovic III Serb-
ian King”, while others featured the same phrase with an incorrect
spelling of the word “Serbian”.
The “dinar” was chosen as the national monetary unit while the
“Para” was designated a subunit, in much the same way as the cent
to the dollar. The name “dinar” was chosen for its obvious historical
significance to medieval Serbian states. This position was advocated by
the minister of foreign affairs, Cedomir Mijatovic, who is consequently
regarded as the godfather of the early dinar. The first silver dinars were
minted in 1875, whilst the first gold domestic coins were minted four
years later, in 1879, and came in denominations of 10 and 20 dinars.
The 20 dinar coin was nicknamed the “Miland’or”, after king Milan
Obrenovic, Mihajlo’s successor. The 5 and 10 Para coins were also col-
loquially (and respectively) nicknamed “Marijash”, and ”Gosh”.
The last coins to include the image of a head of the Obrenovic dy-
nasty were minted in 1897. They featured the image of King Alexan-
der I Obrenovic and came in 1 and 2 dinar denominations. A violent
change in dynasties in 1903 brought with it a change in the appearance
of the domestic currency. From 1904, onward to the dissolution of the
Kingdom of Serbia in 1918, all domestic coins were minted with the
image of the successor king, Peter Karadordje.
In 1904, a silver 5 dinar coin was minted in celebration of the 100
year anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising. The obverse of the coin
featured King Peter I (the reigning monarch) and Karadordje Petrovic
(leader of the 1804 rebellion against the Ottoman).
Silver coins minted in the image of King Peter I continued to be
made until 1915. The last Kingdom of Serbia coins were minted in 1917,
one year prior to the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats,
and Slovenes. This marks the end of a violent and tumultuous chapter
in the history of the Serbian nation and its national currencies.