On May 30, 2019, the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the ‘kuna’ (the name translates as European pine marten, Martes martes) as the currency of the Republic of Croatia, the exhibition ‘KUNA – 25 years of the monetary unit of the Republic of Croatia’ opened at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.
The Museum’s large numismatic collection – consisting of more than 270 000 coins, medals, banknotes etc. – also serves as a national numismatic collection, while the exhibition itself was organised in collaboration with the Croatian National Bank. The author of the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue is Tomislav Bilić, the head of the Museum’s Numismatic department.
All variants of Croatian currency coins and banknotes are displayed at the exhibition, as well as the tenders for banknotes and coins conducted in 1992 and 1993, respectively. After proclaiming independence in 1991, Croatia introduced an interim currency, called ‘hrvatski dinar’ (Croatian dinar), which was replaced in 1994 with the ‘kuna’. The designated name for the currency under which the paper money tender was called was actually ‘kruna’ (crown), since the ‘kuna’ was the name of the currency of the Croatian fascist puppet-state during WWII. Eventually, the name was changed to ‘kuna’, and the coins tender was called under that name. The author of the coins is Kuzma Kovačić, a prominent sculptor, while the authors of banknotes are Miroslav Šutej, also a prominent painter and graphic artist, and Vilko Žiljak, an expert in computer graphics.
The ‘kuna’ coins are minted in the Zagreb Mint (Croatian Monetary Institute), while the banknotes are printed in Giesecke & Devrient GmbH in Munich and Österreichische Banknoten und Sicherheitsdruck GmbH in Vienna.
The exhibition was opened by the Croatian Prime Minister, Mr Andrej Planković, and it will stay open until June 30, 2019.
More information on the exhibition as well as the numismatic collection at the Archeological Museum Zagreb is available online.
Wikipedia offers a comprehensive overview over the process of Croatian independence.
Images of the Kuna banknotes and coins can be found on the website of the Croatian National Bank.
The Croatian National Bank has also released a documentary that tells you more about the creation of the Croatian currency.
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