What makes the 1,000-dinar banknote of the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia extraordinary

Novčanica od 1.000 dinara koja nosi na sebi datum izdanja 1. decembar 1931. godine puštena je u opticaj 1. januara 1933. godine, a povučena iz opticaja u periodu od 4. do 11. juna 1941. godine. Snimanje i izrada klišea obavljeni su u Banque de France, u Parizu, hartija sa vodotiskom nabavljena je iz firme Portals Ltd, Hants, Engleska, a štampana je u Zavodu za izradu novčanica u Beogradu. Autor ove novčanice je Paja Jovanović, jedan od najvećih srpskih slikara. Nema zvaničnih podataka o visini tiraža novčanice, ali se na osnovu naručene količine hartije može pretpostaviti da je izrađeno od 10 do 11 miliona komada novčanica u nominalnoj vrednosti od 10 do 11 milijardi dinara. Dimenzije novčanice su 195x121mm, crteža 181x112mm i vodotiska u prečniku 35mm. Na novčanici dominira lik kraljice Marije Karađorđević, a na vodotisku je profil kralja Aleksandra Karađorđevića.


Stabilisation of the Dinar and Three Important Laws
In June 1931, the stabilisation of the dinar was enacted by the adoption of three important laws: the Law on Money of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Agreement between the State and the National Bank for the Implementation of the Law on Money of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Law on the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Specifically, the Law on Money brought about significant changes in the country's monetary system. The value of the dinar was found to be 0.0265 grams of pure gold, so that a kilogram of gold stood at 37,735.85 dinars, which corresponded to a parity of 9.12778 Swiss francs per 100 dinars. Domestic banknotes could then be exchanged for gold in levers, and for foreign currencies that could also be exchanged for gold, but only in case of amounts higher than 250,000 dinars. Banknotes in circulation and other National Bank's liabilities on demand had to have 35% coverage, with 25% coverage being in gold and the rest in gold foreign currencies. By this law, for the first time since the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, in 1918, the dinar was designated as a monetary unit of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The Agreement between the State and the National Bank for the Implementation of the Law on Money of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, approved by a special Law, determined the sources of funds and the way to reduce the state's debt to the National Bank. By 28 June 1931, the debt of the state amounted to over 4.1 billion dinars, only to be reduced to about 1.8 billion dinars by the implementation of the Agreement. The state provided the funds for this operation through the following means: Foreign exchange worth 1.4 billion dinars from the yield of the "7% government stabilisation loan" concluded with an international consortium of banks; More than 0.9 billion dinars from the revaluation of the National Bank's base in gold and foreign currencies, based on the new dinar parity and the calculation of the value of silver at the new price; State participation in the National Bank's profits in that year, i.e. until 28 June 1931, when the Law on Money came into force.
The Law on the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia makes amendments to the Law on the National Bank from 1920. Its overriding task now is to maintain the stability and security of the dinar and, secondly, to lend to the economy. The principal of the National Bank was increased from 30 to 180 million dinars with the assets from its funds.
"However, all these regulations and measures that marked the legal stabilisation of the dinar were passed at an inappropriate time. There was already a global economic crisis happening. German reparations and war debt obligations were frozen (The Hoover Moratorium, 20 June 1931), which meant an annual foreign currency loss of about 450 million dinars for Yugoslavia. On 21 September 1931, the United Kingdom abandoned its golden value, which meant a world-wide monetary coup. The country's new liberal foreign exchange regime leads to an uncontrolled outflow of foreign exchange. The foreign trade of Yugoslavia in 1929 dropped dramatically to only 61% of that exchange. In Austria and Hungary, which were our strong partners in the exchange of goods, the claims of our exporters were being blocked. Such effect of stranim berzama velika špekulativna ponuda dinara, a potražnje nema, kurs dinara pada. U maju 1932. godine 100 dinara je vredelo 9 švajcarskih franaka, a u oktobru iste godine svega 6,60 švajcarskih franaka. Za podsticanje izvoza, krajem avgusta 1932. godine uvodi se "prim" (dodatak) na zvanični kurs deviza. Prim se stalno povećava, pa je 3. marta 1933. godine iznosio već 28,5% za kliring, a 20% za ostale devizne transakcije. Sve te mere značile su samo jedno: napuštanje zlatnog važenja i poništavanje svih efekata stabilizacije dinara." (Novac Kraljevine Jugoslavije 1918-1941)

The Portrait of Queen Marija Karađorđević
It is known that the banknotes of the Principality of Serbia, the Kingdom of Serbia, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia often featured depictions of rulers from the Karađorđević and Obrenović dynasties, as well as images of unknown men and historical figures. For example, this is the case with the 5-dinar banknote of the Kingdom of Serbia with different issue dates (1.9.1916 -31.12.1917) featuring the image of the Duke of Kosovo, Miloš Obilić. When it comes to female portraits, it is interesting that only unknown or imaginary characters were portrayed. The only banknote in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which bears the image of a famous, real person, is the 1000-dinar banknote. It depicts a portrait of Queen Marija, the wife of the then King of Yugoslavia, Aleksandar I Karađorđević, whose portrait is also featured on this banknote, but on the watermark.
It is unknown who decided to add the portrait of Queen Marija to this banknote, in addition to the image of King Aleksandar, but it is reliably known that the National Bank decided to entrust the making of the banknote to the then greatest and most famous painter in the country, Paja Jovanović. No matter who came up with the idea, the decision to feature Marija Karađorđević on the banknote is quite understandable, as she was a respected queen who exuded modesty, charity, intelligence and dedication to improving the living conditions of the people living in the country she married into. Her work on opening new schools and hospitals, improving the living conditions of children without parents, and educating girls was particularly prominent.

Paja Jovanović -Author of the Banknote
The preparations for the production of a 1,000-dinar permanent second edition banknote began in 1928. Following a principled decision to issue a new banknote, the National Bank

Cliché from France, Paper from England, and Printing in Belgrade
It can be assumed that the competent representatives of the National Bank, who also decided on the choice of the artist who was to provide the artistic solution of the 1,000-dinar banknote, had the opportunity to see the portrait of Queen Marija and the portrait of King Aleksandar, and that this was one of the main reasons for choosing Paja Jovanović. The final decision to choose him came only after the draft banknote had been submitted to the National Bank. By letter dated 24 April 1929, the National Bank ordered detailed drawings from Paja Jovanović, and their revisions concerning changes in the name of the National Bank, date and signatures on the banknote, as well as the production of clichés were carried out at the Banque de France, Paris. The engraver of this banknote was E. Deloche, who also engraved some of our previous banknotes. In December 1929, the National Bank sent a letter to Juraj Demetrović, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, notifying him about the drafting of the cliché in Paris.
The 1931 report of the National Bank stated that the production of the new 1,000-dinar banknote would commence as of March 1932, as all preparatory work for the making of this banknote had been completed. Within the promised deadline, the National Bank addressed Milorad Đorđević, the Minister of Finance, to propose the adoption of a special law for the issuance of this banknote, or to have him make a decision on the matter, since the preparations for the printing of the 1,000-dinar banknote had been completed. Before Minister Đorđević made the decision on 17 March that the printing of the banknotes could begin, the Executive Committee of the National Bank, at its meeting held on 8 March, decided to start printing as early as 9 March 1932.
The company Portals Ltd, Hants, England was selected as the best bidder to produce the watermarked paper. The first order of paper for making 5,280,000 banknotes was in mid-September 1931, and the second order for making another 5,820,000 pieces was in January 1932. The first delivered order of paper arrived in Belgrade as early as mid-February 1932. One packet of 1,000 sheets (six banknotes on one sheet) cost 8 shillings and 4 pennies. The printing of the banknote was carried out at the Institute for Manufacturing Banknotes and Coins in Belgrade, which began its operations in 1930.
As there are no official data on the amount of 1,000-dinar banknotes in circulation, based on the ordered quantity of paper, it can be assumed that 10 to 11 million banknotes were made in the nominal value of 10 to 11 billion dinars. For example, it is known for certain that at the end of 1940, a total 8,811,562,000 dinars' worth of these banknotes were in circulation. In addition to the information about the amount Pantelić S. What Makes the 1,000-Dinar Banknote of the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Extraordinary troškova za sve novčanice.
Najveći deo gotovinskog prometa u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji obavljao se ovom novčanicom od 1.000 dinara. Dok je bila u opticaju, prema podacima Banknotnog odeljenja Narodne banke, otkriveno je ukupno 17 falsifikata, tri prilično uspela i 14 veoma neuspešnih. of banknotes in circulation, the information on the total cost of making these banknotes is also unknown. Namely, at the time only the aggregate cost data for all banknotes were published. The 1,000-dinar permanent 2 nd edition banknote was put into circulation on 1 January 1933 and withdrawn from 4 to 11 June 1941. At the beginning of World War II in occupied Serbia, it was replaced by a banknote of the Serbian National Bank.

Osnovne karakteristike novčanice
The largest share of the cash turnover in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was carried out with this 1,000-dinar banknote. While in circulation, a total of 17 counterfeits were discovered, according to the National Bank's Banknote Department, three of which were quite successful and 14 quite unsuccessful.

Basic Characteristics of the Banknote
The dimensions of the 1,000-dinar banknote are 195x121mm, the drawings are 181x112mm, while the watermark is 35mm in diameter. The paper is white, painted in multiple colours.

The Obverse of the Banknote
The obverse of the banknote is rich in ornaments, on the left side is the portrait of Queen Marija, in the middle of the upper part is a watermark with the left profile of King Aleksandar Karađorđević, and on the right is a drawing of an eagle in flight. The text is printed in Cyrillic, with type letters from Miroslav's Gospel. The following is printed above the watermark: NATIONAL BANK OF THE KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA and below the watermark: it pays the bringer ONE THOUSAND DINARS. Below it reads: Belgrade, 1 December 1931, on the left is the signature of Čingrija, a member of the Management Board and on the right is the signature of the Governor and Bajloni, and finally, in the blue framed box, a clause regarding the punishment of counterfeiters was printed.
The large number 1000 is featured on the upper left and bottom right corners of the drawing and small numbers are featured on the sides of the frame. The batch mark is located on the upper right and lower left of the banknote frame, the banknote number is on the upper right and lower left of the box, the control number is below the counterfeit penalty clause. The first letter of the name and full surname of the author of the drawing is given in French orthography in the lower part of the frame on the left, and the first letter of the name and full surname of the engraver is featured on the right side of the frame.

The Reverse of the Banknote
On the left is a woman holding a bundle of grain and a sickle and on the right is a woman brandishing a sword and shield with the state coat of arms. The full text is in Latin script: the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, pays the bringer 1,000 dinars and a clause regarding the punishment of counterfeiters. The nominal value of "1,000" is featured in the upper right and lower left corners of the drawing. As well as on the obverse the reverse also features the names of the author of the drawings and the engraver.