Banknotes and coins

50 years anniversary of the founding of the Monetary Institute of Slovenia (1994)

The 12th of March 1994 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the decision of the Slovene National Liberation Council to establish, at Crnomelj, the Monetary Institute of Slovenia. The foundation of a banking institution in a country which was at the time occupied by a foreign power was a unique historical event, and also marked the beginnings of financial business for the Slovene nation, living now in an independent and sovereign state. Through the foundation of the Monetary Institute of Slovenia two of the basic rights of all nations were realised, namely the rights to sovereignty and to enable its citizens to enjoy the fruits of their labour. It was a courageous deed to set up the Slovene Monetary Institute in a Europe which was under axis domination and it both laid the foundation of the Slovene monetary system and set the pattern for the post-war economic development of Slovenia.

Between its establishment and the end of the war the Monetary Institute of Slovenia fully justified its existence. Its purposes were to arrange for three issues of Lira payment notes and receipts, which served as an extra means of payment, to introduce some form of finance for the economy and to enable saving activity.

Moreover, it should be noted that the various wartime means of payment adopted in Slovenia were not valueless paper, for the Slovene authorities fulfilled, in the framework of the now current financial system, their promise that these instruments would be redeemed within three months after the liberation against the currency then in use.

In commemoration of the establishment of the Monetary Institute of Slovenia, the Republic of Slovenia issued three coins:

  • a gold coin with a nominal value of 5,000 Tolars, a weight of 7 grams, a diameter of 24 mm and a purity of 900/1000; in a quantity of 2,000 coins;
  • a silver coin with a nominal value of 500 Tolars, a weight of 15 grams, a diameter of 32 mm and a purity of 925/1000; in a quantity of 5,000 coins;
  • a coin for general circulation with a nominal value of 5 Tolars, a weight of 6.4 grams, a diameter of 26 mm, made of an Cu-Zn-Ni alloy; quantity: 100,000 pieces.

Authors of the rough-cast design: Gorazd and Matjaz Ucakar, Ljubljana
Minting of gold and silver coins: International Company Zlatarna Celje, Celje
Minting of circulation coins: Statna Mincovna, Kremnica / Slovakia