MILOŠ OBILIĆ-TRADEMARK OF THE 5-DINAR BANKNOTE ( 1916-1918 )

Osnovne karakteristike novčanice od 5 dinara Privilegovane narodne banke Kraljevine Srbije razmenjive u srebru su: dimenzije 115x68mm, svetlo plave boje sa likom Miloša Obilića na licu novčanice i u vodotisku sa različitim datumima izrade od 1. septembra 1916. do 18. septembra 1918. godine. Prve novčanice štampane su već 19.9.1916. Krajem drugog tromesečja 1917. u Banci Francuske završena je izrada 4 miliona komada novčanica od 5 dinara u nominalnoj vrednosti od 20 miliona dinara. Izrada ove novčanice nastavljena je sve do 18. septembra 1918. godine. Iako je u objavi Narodne banke datum puštanja u opticaj novčanice od 5 dinara 18. septembar 1918. njeno stvarno puštanje u opticaj počelo je tek dolaskom Narodne banke iz Marseja u Beograd 16. februara (1. marta) 1919. godine. Za opticaj je bilo predviđeno 10.900.000 komada novčanica u nominalnoj vrednosti od 54,5 miliona dinara. Postoje mišljenja da je ukupan tiraž ovih novčanica bio veći, odnosno 12.175.000 komada i da postoji 487 različitih datuma njihovog izdanja. Povlačenje petodinarke iz opticaja objavila je Narodna banka 1932. godine a kao krajnji rok za njenu zamenu označen je 18. juli 1935. godine.

Interesantno je istaći dva propusta koja su učinjena u ovoj objavi: (1) u opisu naličja novčanice izostavljen je podatak da se suprotno od vodotiska nalazi naslikan grb Srbije i (2) datum koji se navodi na novčanici (20.9.1916.)nije jedini jer će ova novčanica nositi različite datume izrade od S rpske novine (Eng.The Serbian Journal) as of 6 October 1918 published the statement of the Privileged National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbia under the title: "Our First 5-Dinar Banknote", the banknote bearing the date of 18 September 1918.The statement was signed by the Administration of the Privileged National Bank in Marseille.The text stated that the new 5-dinar banknote in silver was prepared and printed in France during the First World War, still ongoing at that point.
The statement also contained the description of the banknote.Its dimensions were 115x68mm, and the color light blue both on the obverse and reverse.The watermark said: "to every Serb well known face of Miloš Obilić, the Kosovo hero".
The banknote's obverse, on its left, also featured the face of Miloš Obilić.At the top of the banknote there was the inscription: "God Save Serbia".Below it was the line of eight figures and the wording: The Privileged National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbia pays to the bearer five dinars in silver.In addition to the date: 20.09.1916 the banknote also included the hand-written signatures of the Governor, Georg Weifert, and the member of Administration, Marko Stojanović.The bottom of the banknote featured the framed inscriptions: "The Law of 15 December 1893" and "Counterfeiting of banknotes punishable by imprisonment".The reverse featured the same text as on the banknote's obverse only in French, leaving out the information that the dinar was payable in silver and the assurance of the amount disbursed to the bearer.Below the text, to the left, the banknote was ornamented by the drawings of fruit, flowers, vine, grapes and apples, and to the right, the drawings of a sheaf of wheat, a scythe, and some fruit, in a basket and scattered around it.
Interestingly enough, two omissions were made in this statement: (1) the description of the banknote's reverse omits the information that there is Serbia's coat of arms opposite the watermark, and (2) the date stated on the banknote (i.e.20.09.1916) is not the only one, given that this banknote will be featuring the different dates ranging from 1 September 1916 to 18 September 1918.
Today, there are two known descriptions of this banknote: (1) the one by the Administration of the Privileged National Bank, and (2) the one by Dušan Šainović, Secretary General of the National Bank and its emissary at Banque de France.The description prepared by Šainović is much more extensive and detailed, but it was based on the description of the specimen banknotes.He, for instance, explained that there would not be a single specified date but that each banknote would feature the date of its own issuance.Moreover, he highlighted the difference between the Serbian inscriptions on the obverse and the French ones on the reverse of the banknote.T he National Bank had launched the preparations for issuing the 5-dinar banknote in silver much sooner than it actually received the relevant authorization according to the Law on Amendments to the Law on the National Bank, which was adopted by the Assembly on 24.09.1916 and came into force on 19.11.1916.One letter from the end of the first quarter of 1916 reveals that the Minister of Finance commanded the printing of 4 million pieces of 5-dinar banknotes in silver.The National Bank had already commissioned Banque de France in Paris to prepare the drawings for this banknote, and instructed its emissary in Paris to order the required watermarked paper from Papeteries du Marais and undertake all the necessary preparations for the printing.Three and a half months later, and one month before the adoption of the above Law, the National Bank's emissary submitted the written report to the National Bank, which had been stationed in Marseille during the war, about the finalized drawings for the 5-dinar banknote, accompanied with the notification from Banque de France stating that it was not in the position to embark on the printing of the Serbian 5-dinar banknotes in the forthcoming three months.However, the forecast of Banque de France turned out to be incorrect, because the first banknotes were printed already on 19.09.1916.Towards the end of the second quarter of 1917 Banque de France finalized the printing of 4 million pieces of the 5-dinar banknote, in the nominal value of 20 million dinars.
The printing of this banknote continued until 18 September 1918.This is the last date in the series of dates to be found on this 5-dinar banknote.N arodna banka je, prema pismu iz 7. oktobra 1918.
Iako je u objavi Narodne banke datum puštanja u opticaj novčanice od 5  A ccording to the letter as of 7 October 1918, the National Bank commissioned the printing of 6 million pieces of this banknote from Banque de France, along with 10 million pieces of the tendinar banknote and 1 million pieces of the 100-dinar banknote.The Ministry of Finance, located on Corfu, did not accept the proposed amount, having reduced the order to 3 million pieces of the 5-dinar banknote, 5 million pieces of the ten-dinar banknote and 0.5 million pieces of the 100-dinar banknote.The printing of these banknotes never occurred as a result of the creation of the new state, i.e. the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the attempt to regulate the currency issue at the state level, the withdrawal of the Austrian crowns and their replacement by the dinar-crown banknotes, etc.
Although the declaration of the National Bank stated that the date of releasing the 5-dinar banknote into circulation was 18 September 1918, its actual release into circulation did not start until the National Bank returned from Marseille to Belgrade on 16 February (1 March) 1919.The amount planned for circulation was 10,900,000 pieces of banknotes, in the nominal value of 54.5 million dinars.According to some opinions, the total amount of these banknotes was actually higher, i.e. 12,175,000 pieces, and there were 487 different dates of their issuance.The withdrawal of the 5-dinar banknote from circulation was performed by the National Bank in 1932, the deadline for its replacement being set at 18 July 1935.