Historical Sketch

In 1516, the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro was founded as successor to the medieval Metropolitanate of Zeta. In the mid-16th century, it came under Ottoman suzerainty but kept a large degree of independence. The Petrović-Njegoš dynasty took power in 1697 and maintained it until the end of the state in 1918. The ruler’s ecclesial office was abandoned in 1852, and Montenegro became a secular principality. The Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 brought an end to Turkish suzerainty, and in subsequent wars the Montenegrin territory got enlarged further. In 1910, the principality was elevated to kingdom. During World War I, Montenegro was occupied by Austria-Hungary, and the king went into exile. After liberation, a popular assembly decided to dethrone the king and to merge Montenegro into the new state of Yugoslavia. During World War II, when Yugoslavia had been dissolved by the Axis powers, Montenegro was briefly recreated as monarchy in 1941 under Italian protectorate. All this remained on paper only, and in 1943, after Italy had left the Axis coalition, Germany took over the occupation until the defeat of 1945, when Yugoslavia finally got restored. In the early 1990s, the different Yugoslav republics seceded, so that after 1991, the state was made of just Montenegro and Serbia. In 2003, Yugoslavia also disappeared in name, to be succeeded by a Serbian-Montenegrin state union. Following a referendum, also the last remainder of Yugoslavia disappeared, and Montenegro was proclaimed an independent republic.

Monetary History Overview

Montenegro had always been using currencies of the neighboring countries, its economy being dominated by subsistence. In the 18th century, the Austrian coinage had become common, but only in 1901, the currency's legal tender status became official. In the mid-19th century the creation of a distinct currency called "Perun" had been discussed but never put forward. In 1906, Montenegro began issuing local subsidiary coins, followed by silver coins in 1909, which circulated in parallel with the Austrian coinage although its withdrawal had originally been envisaged. In November 1910, finally, the Montenegrin Perper was created as national currency at par with the Austro-Hungarian Crown, which remained legal tender as well. During the Balkan War of 1912 and the First World War, Montenegro was issuing paper money to overcome the scarcity of circulating coins. In December 1918, Montenegro integrated the newly founded Yugoslav kingdom, and its currency was demonetized until mid-1921.

In 1941, Germany occupied Yugoslavia and dissolved the state. The Kingdom of Montenegro was nominally restored under German-Italian suzerainty but never attained real statehood. Italian and German currencies replaced the Yugoslav Dinar. At the German defeat in the Second World War the Montenegrin territory was reintegrated into Yugoslavia. The occupation money was withdrawn until July 1945.

After 1999, Yugoslavia consisted of just Serbia and Montenegro. In 1999, the Montenegrin parlament passed a law to introduce the German Mark as parallel currency beside the Yugoslav Dinar, which at that time was pegged agains the Mark. The German currency quickly displaced the Dinar so that by end 2000, the German Mark was declared sole legal tender. At the time of adoption by Montenegro, the German Mark had already ceased to exist since Germany had adopted the Euro in January 1999. In 2002, the German currency also disappeared as circulating medium. Montenegro had to follow without explicitly adopting the Euro as currency. There is no agreement with the European Monetary Union that formalizes the usage.

Montenegro joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 18.01.2007.

Currency Units Timeline

Currency Institutes Timeline

Monetary History Sources