History of Croatian currency

The history of currency in the now Croatian territory dates to much earlier than the adoption of the modern kuna in 1994,[1] and almost a thousand years of history which has seen the rise and fall of many different empires and kingdoms.[2]

Croats did not begin to create their own coins for currency until late in the 12th century (1100-1200). Previously, they minted replicas of Byzantine coins of emperor Heraclius.[2] Byzantine coinage was adopted by Byzantine Empire in the 4th century (300-400) and was the currency standard for the empire for about 700 years[3]

In the age of the Arpad dynasty, the Kingdom of Hungary started to mint silver coins called denar, including ones for the Kingdom of Slavonia.[4] Andrew II of Hungary, at a time when he was the ruler of Slavonia (contemporary name for what is now most of continental Croatia), minted what is known as the first Croatian frizatik between 1196 and 1204.[4] After 1205, the King would delegate the minting to the Ban of Croatia.[4] This money was named after the ban - the banovac (denarius banalis). The symbols found on these coins included a running marten, a star and crescent to symbolize Croatia, and a two-barred cross to symbolize Hungary.[5] The first recorded mint was located in Pakrac between 1256 and 1260, when it was moved to Zagreb where it would operate until 1384.[5] King Louis I the Great was the first who forbade the minting of the banovac in 1364, preferring the royal currency insteady.[5] The rulers from the Capetian House of Anjou such as Charles I Robert had started changing this policy as early as 1323.[5]

At the same time, in the mid-13th century the commune of Split minted a silver coin called bagatin, and later under the Republic of Venice copper coins were minted for Split, Šibenik, Zadar, Hvar and Trogir.[5]

In 1443, Frederick III of Habsburg granted the privilege of coining money to Stjepan II Frankopan, and to Jan Vitovec, both Bans of Croatia.[5]

At the start of the 15th century (1400-1500), coastal Croatia came under increasing attack by the Ottoman Empire, which wanted to take control of it from the Republic of Venice. Venice succeeded in maintaining control over the current Croatian territory except for the city-state of Dubrovnik, which became independent during this time,[6] and minted and refined their own coinage over the span of five years. This “Republic of Dubrovnik” coinage was called the artiluc. During this five-year span, other Croatian coastal towns, Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir, Split and Hvar also minted their own similar coinage.[1]

Printed money was introduced into the Croatian territory in 1778 in the city of Pag. This new currency was referred to as assignats, which were also being introduced into France at the same time. Previously the city of Pag had relied on salt to pay officers, clerks and doctors. To convert salt to assignats, the salt amount was converted to a lira equivalent, which was noted on the assignats by including sum and issue date information.[1]

In 1848, Josip Jelačić was appointed Ban of Croatia, and issued a combination of coins and banknotes during his time as ruler. For smaller-scale transactions, coins called križar and forint (minted in Zagreb) were utilized. Križar were minted from copper and forint from silver. For larger transactions of enterprises, communalities, and trading houses, banknotes backed by guarantees were issued instead.[1]

With the creation of Yugoslavia in 1918, the Serbian dinar was adopted alongside the krone in Croatia. The Serbian dinar also became the currency of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. These were the first banknotes that represented the Kingdom of the Serbians. In 1929, the name of the country was changed from Kingdom of the Serbs to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and thus, the name of the currency was changed from the Serbian dinar to the Yugoslav dinar[7]

From 1941-1945 during World War II in Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia officially adopted the Kuna as the currency for the first time on July 26th, 1941. The Independent State of Croatia kuna at the time of adoption included banknotes of 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000. Banknotes of 1, 2, were later introduced in 1942, and 5,000 banknotes were added in 1943.[8] The Kuna started with a fixed exchange rate of 20.00 Kn (Kuna) = 1 RM (Reichsmark), the currency for Germany at the time.[9] By May 6th 1945, the exchange rate between the Kuna and Reichsmark was fixed at 120.00 Kn (Kuna) = 1 RM (Reichsmark)[8]

From June 30th to July 9th 1945, the Kuna was removed from the currency circulation and replaced by the 1944 issue of the Yugoslav Dinar. At the time of reissue, the Yugoslav Dinar had a fixed exchange rate of 40 Kn (Kuna) = 1 dinar[9]

In 1991, Croatia officially declared its independence from the socialist Republic of Yugoslavia and became a separate country.[10] After independence, a period of transition began from the dinar back to the kuna. The name was re-chosen as the name of the currency to represent the fiscal history of Croatia.[11] One kuna was equivalent to 1000 dinars. The modern kuna became the official currency of Croatia in 1994 on May 30th.[10] Currently, the Croatian kuna includes a combination of both coins and bills in the circulation. Coins are in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 lipa. The banknotes are in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 kuna.[12] Today, the Croatian kuna has an inflation rate of 1.10%.[13] One Croatian Kuna(kn) = .13444 Euros, and one Euro = 7.44 Croatian Kuna(kn). [14] 2022 will be the final year for the kuna as Croatia is scheduled to replace it with the euro (€, EUR) on January 1, 2023. All Croatian bank accounts and credit cards will automatically be converted to euros and kuna cash may be exchanged for euros at no charge.

• Kolar-Dimitrijević, Mira (2014). Povijest novca u Hrvatskoj, 1527. − 1941 [History of money in Croatia, 1527 − 1941] (PDF) (in Croatian). ISBN 978-953-8013-03-4. Retrieved 2022-04-16.