Yugoslav dinar
The dinar was the currency of Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1920 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was replaced by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The dinar was subdivided into 100 para.
One of the successor states to former Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, continued to use the same name for its currency until 2003, though Montenegro stopped exclusively using it in 1999 and moved away from it in 2000.
In the early 1990s, economic mismanagement made the government bankrupt and forced it to take money from the savings of the country's citizens. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, this caused severe and prolonged hyperinflation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which has been described as the worst in history. Large amounts of money were printed, with coins becoming redundant and inflation rates reaching over one billion per cent per year. This hyperinflation caused five revaluations between 1990 and 1994; in total there were eight distinct dinari. Six of the eight have been given distinguishing names and separate ISO 4217 codes. The highest denomination banknote was 500 billion dinars, which became worthless a fortnight after it was printed.
History
1920–41: dinars of the Yugoslav Kingdom
Until 1918, the dinar was the currency of Serbia. It then became the currency of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, circulating alongside the krone in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 1 dinar equalling 4 kronen. The first coins and banknotes bearing the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were issued in 1920, until which time Serbian coins and banknotes circulated. In 1929, the name of the country changed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and this was reflected on the currency.In 1931, an exchange rate of 56.4 dinara to the U.S. dollar was set, which changed to 44 dinara in 1933. In 1937, a tourist exchange rate of 250 dinara to the British pound was established.
World War II (1941–45)
In 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded and split up, with the dinar remaining currency in Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia. The kuna was introduced in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina at par with the dinar, whilst the Bulgarian lev, Italian lira and German Reichsmark circulated in the parts of Yugoslavia occupied by these countries.1945–65: Federation dinar (YUF)
In 1945, as Yugoslavia began to be reconstituted, the Yugoslav dinar replaced the Serbian dinar, Independent State of Croatia kuna and other occupation currencies, with the rates of exchange being 1 Yugoslav dinar for 20 Serbian dinara or 40 kuna.Yugoslavia was a founding member of the International Monetary Fund. At the time, other communist countries avoided signing up to it. The dinar was initially pegged to the US dollar at a rate of 50 dinara to the dollar. By 1955, the peg had been depreciated to 300 dinars to the dollar, but this was only applicable to a limited number of transactions. For the vast majority of transactions, a system of multiple exchange rates with differing levels of government intervention applied. Depending on the transaction the system offered over 200 different exchange rates ranging from 600 or so dinara to the dollar to over 1,150. This multiple exchange rate system was abolished in 1961 and replaced with a single pegged rate of 750 dinara to the dollar.
1966–89: Hard dinar (YUD)
On 1 January 1966, the first of five revaluations took place, at a ratio of 100 to 1.The revalued currency was initially pegged to the US dollar at a rate of 12.50 dinara to the dollar. In late 1971, this was revised to 17 dinara to the dollar. Following the Nixon Shock, Yugoslavia adopted a market exchange rate system. A foreign exchange market was established in Belgrade in which only banks could participate; this set the exchange rates for the entire country. This allowed the dinar to float more or less freely. Under this system, the exchange rate reached about 29 dinara to the dollar in 1981, 127 dinara to the dollar by 1984, and 457 dinara to the dollar by 1987.
Yugoslavia's chronic inflation was poorly managed. Its central bank monetized the debt by growing the money supply. The hyperinflation in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became a serious problem in the 1980s. Between 1971 and 1991, Yugoslavia's annualized inflation was 76%. Only Brazil and Zaire had higher levels of inflation.
The large denomination coins were struck in nickel brass.
1990–92: Convertible dinar (YUN)
The second revaluation took place on 1 January 1990, at a ratio of 10,000 to 1. During this period, the constituent republics began to leave the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Four of the six republics declared independence and issued their own currencies shortly after, and the breakup of Yugoslavia was recognized by the international community at the turn of 1992. This was the last dinar that bore the coat of arms and the name of the "Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" in multiple languages.| Country | Currency | ISO code | Date adopted | Value |
| Slovenia | Slovenian tolar | SIT | 8 October 1991 | 1 dinar of 1990 |
| Croatia | Croatian dinar | HRD | 23 December 1991 | 1 dinar of 1990 |
| North Macedonia | Macedonian denar | MKD | 26 April 1992 | 1 dinar of 1990 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian dinar | BAD | 1 July 1992 | 1 dinar of 1992 |
Serbian enclaves in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in occupied territories in Croatia also issued currencies in dinar, equivalent to and revalued together with the Yugoslav dinar. These were the Krajina dinar and the Republika Srpska dinar.
July 1992 – September 1993: Reformed dinar (YUR)
In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which consisted of the remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro, the third revaluation took place on 1 July 1992, at a ratio of 10 to 1. Hyperinflation in the country began during this currency's period of circulation. The sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, instituted over the course of 1992, seriously impacted its economy. People started to use foreign hard currency, such as Deutsche Marks, to mitigate some of the problems of hyperinflation.October–December 1993 dinar (YUO)
Yugoslavia re-denominated the dinar for the fourth time on 1 October 1993, at a ratio of 1 million to 1. This did not mitigate the hyperinflation, and the 1993 dinar lasted for only three months.Coinage became redundant. The 1993 dinar had the largest denomination out of all incarnations of Yugoslav currency: the banknote featuring Jovan Jovanović Zmaj had a face value of 500 billion dinara. Wages became worthless; if paid in cash, workers had to rush out and spend their wages before they lost their value overnight. Many businesses started to pay wages in goods instead, and a simple barter system developed. Businesses with good connections to politicians could still get access to hard currency. Some shops, instead of rewriting their prices several times a day, started pricing goods in "bods", often equivalent to hard currency such as one Deutschmark. The winter of 1993 was particularly hard for pensioners; if a monthly pension was spent immediately, it was still barely enough to buy three litres of milk. Many people relied on connections to friends and family abroad or in the countryside.
1994 dinar (YUG)
Yugoslavia re-denominated the dinar for the fifth time on 1 January 1994, at a ratio of 1 billion to 1.The 1994 dinar was the shortest-lived out of all incarnations of Yugoslav currency, as hyperinflation continued to intensify, and only one coin was issued for it. Towards the end of the 1994 dinar, the National Bank overprinted and reissued 10 million dinara banknotes from the 1992 dinar.
1994–2003: Novi dinar (YUM)
On 24 January 1994, the novi dinar was introduced. This was not merely a revaluation of the dinar. Instead, the novi dinar was pegged at par to the Deutsche Mark. On the day of the introduction of the novi dinar, the exchange rate of the previous dinar to the Deutsche Mark, and, hence, to the novi dinar, was approximately 1 DM or 13 million dinara. Despite not being pegged to the newest currency, the previous dinar did not fall further in value, remaining at about 12 million "1994" dinar to the novi dinar. The overall impact of the hyperinflation was that 1 novi dinar equalled approximately 1.2 third dinara from before 1990, 1.2 Federation dinara, or 2.4 pre-war dinara. The "novi" portion of the name was abandoned in 2000.In 2003, as Yugoslavia became the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, the Yugoslav dinar in the constituent Republic of Serbia was replaced by the Serbian dinar at par.
Replacement of the dinar
On 6 November 1999, Montenegro decided that, besides the Yugoslav dinar, the Deutsche Mark would also be an official currency. On 13 November 2000, the dinar was dropped in Montenegro and the Deutsche Mark became the only currency there. Deutsche Mark ceased to be a legal tender in Germany and was physically replaced by the euro on 1 January 2002, which is also when Montenegro unilaterally adopted the euro, though it does not mint it.In 2003, after the creation of Serbia and Montenegro, the dinar, by then only used in Serbia, was replaced by the Serbian dinar. In practice, the introduction of the Serbian dinar functioned as a name change with their values being at par and maintaining essentially the same banknote and coin designs except for the name of the state. Old Yugoslav banknotes remained in official use in parallel with the new Serbian notes until 1 January 2007, and old banknotes could be exchanged for new ones with services provided by the National Bank of Serbia until the end of 2012.