Slovenia: post-Yugoslav coinage

Started by <k>, November 23, 2013, 10:16:32 PM

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<k>

Successor states of Yugoslavia.jpg

Macedonia is now known as Northern Macedonia.


Before World War I, most ethnic Slovenes lived within Austria-Hungary, while a minority lived in Italy. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Slovenia and Croatia opted to join with Serbia and Montenegro in the "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes". In 1929 the new country officially changed its name to Yugoslavia ("Land of the South Slavs").

Yugoslavia was inherently unstable because of the various differences of its nationalities. The Slovenes and Croats were mainly Catholic, and both used the Latin alphabet. However, they spoke different languages and could not understand one another without tuition. Croats and Serbs spoke essentially the same language, but the Serbs, like the Montenegrins and Macedonians, were Orthodox, not Catholic, and they used the Cyrillic alphabet. Then there were the Bosnian Muslims and the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo and of parts of Montenegro and Macedonia. Also, a Hungarian minority population lived in Vojvodina, northern Serbia.

Serbia was the dominant nationality within the heavily centralised country, and this was resented by the other nationalities. Ethnic tensions rose throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and Hitler used these to divide and rule Yugoslavia after he invaded it in 1941. He split Slovenia between southern Austria and northern Italy. He later occupied the Italian share of Slovenia after the Italians switched to the side of the Allies in 1943.
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<k>

#1

Marshal Tito.

After Tito's communist Partisans liberated Yugoslavia from the Nazis, Tito turned Yugoslavia into a unified federal communist state. He avoided the brutal oppression often seen in other communist countries, and he was careful to respect the different nationalities of his citizens. His popularity with the majority of Yugoslavs meant that he was a unifying force, but after his death ethnic tensions rose once more.

 
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<k>

#2
Milosevic-1989.jpg

Slobodan Milosevic.

In 1987 Slobodan Milosevic began to champion Serb domination within Yugoslavia. This, combined with the new freedoms in Communist Europe (a response to the democratic reforms of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev), caused a rise in nationalism in the other republics of Yugoslavia, who did not wish to be dominated by Milosevic and his Serbs. Additionally, the Slovenes, along with the Croats, were the most modern and prosperous of the Yugoslav republics, and they resented having to subsidise the other republics.
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<k>

INDEPENDENCE FOR SLOVENIA.

From Wikipedia (abridged):

In September 1989 numerous constitutional amendments were passed to introduce parliamentary democracy to Slovenia. On 7 March 1990, the Slovenian Assembly changed the official name of the state to the "Republic of Slovenia". In April 1990 the first democratic national election in Slovenia took place, and the united opposition movement DEMOS led by Jože Pučnik emerged victorious.

On 23 December 1990 the electorate voted for a sovereign and independent Slovenia. On 25 June 1991 Slovenia declared its independence, and Croatia did likewise on the same day. On 27 June in the early morning, the Yugoslav People's Army (YNA) dispatched its forces to Slovenia, leading to The Ten-Day War. Several YNA troops deserted, as they did not want to kill fellow Yugoslavs.

Despite this, the YNA thought the Slovenes would back down, but Slovenia had made serious military preparations in anticipation of just such a conflict. The world watched in amazement as the mighty YNA was forced to leave little Slovenia. On 7 July the Brijuni Agreement was signed, implementing a truce and a three-month halt of the enforcement of Slovenia's independence. At the end of the month, the last YNA soldiers left Slovenia.

In December 1991 a new constitution was adopted, followed in 1992 by laws on denationalisation and privatization. The European Union recognised Slovenia as an independent state on 15 January 1992, and it gained United Nations membership on 22 May 1992.


Slovenia was now safe, but the various wars in Yugoslavia rumbled on until 1995. In that same year the BBC broadcast a superb documentary series, entitled "The Death of Yugoslavia".  It revealed that the YNA had invaded Slovenia on its own authority, but Milosevic ordered it to withdraw, because there were very few Serbs in that republic. Prior to that, Milosevic and the YNA had aimed to keep Yugoslavia together. From then on, Milosevic pursued a policy of a "Greater Serbia".
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<k>

Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Ljubljana-.jpg

Scene from Ljubljana, capital city of Slovenia.
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<k>



Coat of arms of Slovenia.


The Slovene coat of arms consists of a red bordered blue shield. Within the shield is a stylised white representation of Mount Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak. Under this there are two wavy lines, representing the Adriatic sea and the rivers of the country. Above Mount Triglav, there are three golden six-pointed stars, which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th centuries.
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<k>



Flag of Slovenia.

The flag's colors come from the medieval coat of arms of the Duchy of Carniola, consisting of a blue eagle on a white background with a red-and-gold crescent.


Slovenia has a population of around 2 055 000. The indigenous ethnic Slovene minority in Italy is estimated at 83 000 to 100 000; in southern Austria, at around 25 000; in Croatia at 13 000, and in Hungary at 3000.
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<k>

#8
INTRODUCTION OF THE TOLAR.

The tolar was the currency of Slovenia from 8 October 1991 until the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2007. It was subdivided into 100 stotinov (cents).

The name tolar comes from "Thaler" and is cognate with "dollar". The tolar was introduced on 8 October 1991. It replaced the 1990 (Convertible) version of the Yugoslav dinar at parity.

In 1992 coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 stotinov (10, 20 and 50 stotins), 1 tolar, 2 tolarja and 5 tolarjev (2 and 5 tolars). The obverse designs all showed the denomination, with animals native to Slovenia on the reverses. The coins were designed by Miljenko Licul and Zvone Kosovelj and featured reliefs of animals by Janez Boljka.
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<k>

Slovenia 10 stotinov 1992.jpg


The lowest denomination was the 10 stotinov coin.

It was made of aluminium-magnesium (98% aluminium, 2% magnesium).

The obverse showed the country name and the year.


The denomination was shown in words and numerals.

The numerals appeared within a square recessed central area of the coin.

This layout was simple but stylish,

The same layout appeared on all the obverses.


It strikes me as unusual to place the denomination on the obverse.

However, this allowed more room for the beautiful thematic reverse designs.
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<k>

Slovenia 10 stotinov-.jpg


The reverse design of the 10 stotinov coin featured an olm (Proteus anguinus).
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<k>

Olm.jpg


Olm-salamander.jpg


The olm or proteus is an aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae, the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic, eating, sleeping, and breeding underwater. Living in caves found in the Dinaric Alps, it is endemic to the waters that flow underground through the extensive limestone bedrock of the karst of Central and Southeastern Europe in the basin of the Soča River (Italian: Isonzo) near Trieste, Italy, southwestern Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is also called the "human fish" by locals because of its fleshy skin color. This cave salamander is most notable for its adaptations to a life of complete darkness in its underground habitat. The olm's eyes are undeveloped, leaving it blind, while its other senses, particularly those of smell and hearing, are acutely developed. It also lacks any pigmentation in its skin. It has three toes on its forelimbs, but only two toes on its hind feet. It exhibits neoteny, retaining larval characteristics like external gills into adulthood, like some American amphibians, the axolotl and the mudpuppies (Necturus). The olm is the only species in the genus Proteus and the only European species of the family Proteidae, whose other extant genus is Necturus.
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<k>

Slovenia 20 stotinov 1992=.jpg


The 20 stotinov coin was also made of aluminium-magnesium.

Above you see the obverse design of the coin.
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<k>

Slovenia 20 stotinov 1992.jpg


The reverse design of the 20 stotinov coin featured a long-eared owl (Asio otus).

It is notable that the reverse designs of this set leave a lot of blank space.

That is rather daring, yet the designs still look superb.
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<k>

Long-eared owl.jpg


The long-eared owl (Asio otus), also known as the northern long-eared owl or, more informally, as the lesser horned owl or cat owl, is a medium-sized species of owl with an extensive breeding range. The species breeds in many areas through Europe and the Palearctic, as well as in North America. The long-eared owl is one of the most widely distributed and most numerous owl species in the world.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.