Monetary system in medieval Serbia - part two

Article 168 of Dusan’s Code started the statutory regulation of monetary relations by stipulating that dinars could be minted only in imperial towns. This first ever Serbian coinage law allowed the goldsmith working in imperial towns to mint imperial money, while the composition and weight were set in accordance with conventional rules. At that time, around the middle of the XIV century, it was still inappropriate to determine by law the permissible departure from the prescribed weight of coins. The primitive coinage methods applied made it possible for coins of the same kind to differ significantly in weight. The Mine Law enacted in 1412 by Despot Stefan Lazarevic (1389-1427) prohibited the sorting of coins and the checking of their weight. Coins turned out by a mint were sorted and weighed so that the lighter coins could be put in circulation and the heavier coins are re-minted or hoarded. The prohibition against sorting and checking the weight of the newly minted coins indirectly sanctioned the ruler’s right to mint coins whose weight is different from the prescribed weight. That was the beginning of the legalized debasement of coins and reduction of their material to a functional value.

The minting of coins in the late Middle Ages was an important source of royal revenue. Royal rights, stemmed from the ruler’s supreme ownership of the country. Supreme ownership of the country allowed the ruler to exercise his royal rights also in parts of the state territory directly owned by representatives of the privileged classes and thereby limit the right of direct owners to use their lend. Coin minting was seen partly as major and partly minor royal rights. As a prerogative of sovereignty over the whole state, it was included in minor royal rights. In the late middle Ages, the exercise of monetary rights meant that the ruler either organized the minting of money or leased the mints.

Before Dusan’s Code and after his sudden death, royal monetary rights were exercised in medieval Serbia by leasing out mints. However, Article 168 of Dusan’s Code solely legalized organization of minting by the ruler. In this way, Dusan and his supervisors could control the mints. The earlier leasing system meant that the mint lessee answered to the ruler for the weight and quality of coins with his reputation only. Such system provided greater opportunities for abuse than when the ruler organized the minting, because neither the minters nor the supervisors were appointed by the ruler. Dusan organized the minting of money himself in order to complete the unification of money he had started by re-minting the old regal and early imperial coins.

Monetary system in medieval Serbia - part one

Silver coins were minted in medieval Serbia using the locally produced silver, which was made possible by restoring of the mines originally exploited in the Roman period. Silver mining was restored according to established plans. Like in Bohemia and Hungary, the mining and smelting were done by Saxon, miners from the Rhineland, who were invited in mid XIII century by Serbian rulers. They were granted a number of privileges: they were allowed to settle down near the sites on which they prospected for or mined the ore, clear forests, establish autonomous colonies lead by their own chiefs, and establish partnerships whose members owned shares in the mines, which they could bequeath, sell or mortgage. The organization of mining was thus left to free enterprise.

There were no state mints in Nemanjic Serbia, and coins were made by goldsmith whose workshops were in the imperial towns. Another reason why money was minted at several places is certainly the fact that the Nemanjic state never had a permanent capital. The capital was wherever the current ruler established his court and it had that status for as long as the court was there. From the marks on the Serbian medieval coins, it has been established that the use of money developed most during the reigns of King Milutin and Emperor Dusan. The only mint before Milutin’s reign was in Brskovo and it is quite certain that the mints in Rudnik and Novo Brdo were started up during his reign. During Dusan’s reign mints were working in Rudnik, Novo Brdo, Plana, Prizren, Trepca, Skoplje and Ohrid.

By analyzing the weight of preserved Serbian dinars, numismatists have established that the Venetian grosso, weighing 2,178 grams and of 965/1000 silver fineness, served as the model. Although minor deviations from the prescribed weight occurred from the very beginning of regular money minting in medieval Serbia, the ratio did not change until almost the end of the reign of King Stefan Decanski (1321-1331). The Serbian dinar lost a quarter of its value in the first half of Dusan’s reign. This was no longer due to uncertainly value about the Venetian mint ratio. It was a deliberate reduction of the weight of coins, most probably caused by military spending and Serbia’s rapid expansion at the expense of Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire.

Around 1348, Emperor Dusan conducted a currency reform aimed at stabilizing the national currency by mass re-minting of all dinars minted during the preceding part of his reign. These old coins, whose weight varied from 2,12 to 0,98 grams, were re-minted into imperial coins weighing 1,50 grams on average. Following the mass re-minting of the regal and early imperial period coins, the weight of imperial Serbian dinars remained stable.

In medieval Serbia, the right to coin money belonged to whoever exercised de facto power in a given territory. There were times when that right was being shared by the rulers ruling concurrently in different parts of Serbia, ceded by the ruler to deserving lords or usurped. The causes of this phenomenon should be sought in a patrimonial attitude towards territory which was at that time prevalent throughout Europe. This attitude made it possible for a single state to be divided by agreement between members of the ruler’s family, resulting also in de facto division of power. The Nemanjic state was ruled from 1282 to 1316, concurrently by two kings, Milutin and Dragutin, and both minted money.

Function of money in medieval Serbia, part two

The Nemanjic’s dinar was in high demand on foreign markets, just like noble metals from Serbia. Goods and money travelled from Serbia by caravan to the East and by ship to the West. The use of Serbian dinars as a means of payment outside the Nemanjic Serbia is corroborated by medieval documents from Venice, Dubrovnik and Hungary, as well as by the many Serbian coins found in Bulgaria, Bosnia, Greece, Italy, Romania and France. Nemanjic dinars were being taken out of Serbia mostly by the merchants of Dubrovnik, who brought caravans of fabric, salt, spices, glassware, fine clothing and other valuable goods to Serbia. In return, they accepted only good dinars, so that they could get a proper equivalent for the merchandise they sold. By refusing to accept bad coins, the merchants effectively prevented the action of Gresham’s law, according to which good coins were hoarded and bad coins remained in circulation. Had they not, good money would have remained hoarded or been melted down and possibly turned into a greater amount of bad money. Chaos would have hit markets world-wide, because trading would have lost its foundation: a durable standard for measuring and comparing the value of various kinds of goods. Emperor Dusan understood quite well the importance of the principle of optional acceptance of money in circulation, since Article 118 of his Legal Code prohibited anybody from forcing merchants to accept money they did not want in return for their merchandise.
Besides rulers, the Orthodox Church also disposed of coins in the Nemanjic State. Churches and monasteries received donations in coins from rulers on the occasion of construction of new or restoration of old Church buildings. This practice was taken over from Byzantine emperors. The Nemanjic’s also regularly filled the church and monastery treasuries with donations in coins by granting annual subsidies for maintenance of monastery residents. Serbian lords had substantial monetary assets. During Emperor Dusan’s reign, the Serbian nobility was already so wealthy that it became commonplace for nobles economical than the accumulation of cattle or weighed silver.
Emperor Dusan counted on the fact that the nobles, court officials, artisans and merchants possessed assets in monetary form, as demonstrated by the fact that his legislators did not shun the possibility of seizing of such assets in certain conditions.
With the accumulation of monetary assets, conditions were created in Serbia for the lending and deposit coins. The Nemanjic’s accepted the view of the Byzantine emperors that the lending of coins at a given rate was an economic necessity. There is no reference in medieval Serbian documents to any general ban on the lending of money. According to a charter granted by Emperor Dusan to the Monastery of the Holly Archangels near Prizren in 1348-1353, only the clergy were not allowed to lend money. The lending of domestic silver coins against a mortgage on property is to be referred to from the beginning of the XIV century. With the strengthening of economic power and centralized government in the first half of the XIV century, the attitude towards mortgages was accepted without reserve, as a necessary insurance for the lenders. A reserve was later introduced, as mortgage was considered to be an act aimed against the borrowers’ interests.
Domestic lenders mostly extended loans to merchants, because the trading community suffered from a chronic shortage of money. Merchants often financed their transactions by setting up special trading companies. Some members of these companies acted exclusively as financiers, while others were responsible for the organization and conduct business. These companies were usually set up for each project or each trip. More permanent arrangements involving a yearly settlement were much rarer. The merchant companies created by domestic merchants and lenders operated exclusively between the Serbian towns on the Adriatic coast and inland markets. Trade between the Italian city states and the coastal markets of Nemanjic Serbia was controlled by foreigners, who also joined together in merchant companies.
Medieval Serbian documents show that the citizens of Dubrovnik gave valuables for safekeeping to some Serbs in Nemanjic Serbia and that Serbs deposited their money with the city of Dubrovnik and private lenders from Dubrovnik. There are no records of the rate of interests on private loans, but Dubrovnik city paid annual interest rate of five percent on deposits. In order to expand their lending and deposit business, Serbian rulers were prepared to accept foreign citizenship. For instance, King and subsequently Emperor Dusan became a citizen of Venice, regardless of the fact that the title of a Venetian citizen was very much inferior to his royal title. The acquisition of Venetian citizenship involved real benefits. Namely, foreigners were not allowed to engage in financial transaction in Venice.

Function of money in medieval Serbia, part one

Barter trade and use of primitive money prevailed in domestic trading in the Nemanjic’s State, which was a kingdom from 1217 and an empire from 1346. The use of foreign coins was quite rare. The earliest domestic coins date back to the reign of King Radoslav (1228-1233), who issued on rare occasion coins akin to the Byzantine scyphatus. The minting of coins was discontinued after his death and revived toward the end of the reign of King Uros (1243-1276) or at the beginning of that of King Dragutin (1276-1282-1316). It was then that the regular minting of the national silver currency, the dinar, began. The Venetian grosso served as a model. Thanks to widespread use of the dinar in the XIV century, Serbia had one of the highest levels of commodity trading in Europe. Serbia reached its full economic prosperity during Emperor Dusan’s reign in the middle of that century. The dinar continued to be minted until the Serbian medieval state fell under Turkish rule in 1459.
Coins were supplemented in domestic trade by primitive money. Initially, the means of payment was linen, followed by cattle and, finally, weighed silver. The practice of paying in linen came with the Slavs, when they moved to the Balkans from the lands of their origin in the VII century. This practice persisted until the beginning of the XIV century, as is corroborated by a charter granted by King Milutin (1282-1321) to the monastery of St Stefan in Banjska, in 1313-1318. From the IX to the XI century, Serbs also used cattle as money. They took this Roman practice from the Wallachians, Romanized Illyrians and Thracians. Cattle were used as money in domestic trading until the middle of the XIV century and the last reference to cattle as a medium of exchange was made in Dusan’s Code. The only form of primitive money used in domestic trading right up to the fall of the Serbian medieval state under the Turkish rule was weighed silver.
The trading of goods for coins expanded at different rates in the various parts of the state. It was practiced the most on the big markets of the coastal towns, like Kotor, Budva, Ulcinj, Skadar, St Srdj and Drivast and the least in the modest markets of the inland fiefs and monastery estates. In the period in which the mining industry flourished, in the mining towns of Brskovo, Novo Brdo, Rudnik, Trepca and Plana had developed trade. During Emperor Dusan’s reign, intensive trading also went on in Prizren, Lipljan, Skoplje, Veles and Stip, all towns taken from the Byzantine Empire. Big town markets worked every day and small village markets opened only on Sundays and major Church holidays, when fairs were organized. Annual fairs are staged in villages of Serbia to this day.
The penetration of trading goods for coins into the fiefs is corroborated by Article 198 of Dusan’s Code, under which the master of every house had to pay a tax in coins or grain. This tax was introduced in the Serbian common law during King Milutin’s reign, near the end of the XIII century, as a regular tax in money like the Byzantine annona. The rulers of the medieval European states often resolved the problem of the general shortage of coins, by allowing taxes to be paid either in money or kind.
Medieval rulers decided the quantity of produce to be surrendered or the amount of money to be paid to the state as a basic poll tax. In doing so they effectively set a ratio between the value of certain kinds of commodity money and coin money. This is how a system of dual currency began to function as an instrument solely for tax collection purposes. In the dual currency system of the Nemanjic’s State, a pail of grain (about 15 kg) was worth 12 dinars. The system was modeled on the example of the Byzantine Empire, where the annona was set at one modi (pail) of grain or one golden nomisma. When King Milutin introduced similar tax in Serbia at the start of the XIV century, a corrupted nomisma was worth only 12 dinars, having lost a half of its nominal value. King Milutin used this reduced value of a nomisma when setting the poll tax. When Emperor Dusan subsequently allowed the poll tax to be paid in dual currency, he changed neither the sum of money nor the quantity of grain Serbian peasants had to pay.
While Silver coins were used as a medium of exchange in domestic trading, the price of goods, state taxes and fines were nominally expressed in perperas. Like Dubrovnik, medieval Serbia used the perpera as an accounting unit in order to set a permanent ratio between the silver dinar and the price of gold. Although the medieval Serbian state did not mint any gold coins, the ultimate goal of the development of its metallic monetary system was, as in other European states, the minting of gold coins. In Serbia, the perpera was always used as an accounting unit of 12 dinars, regardless of the actual duodecimal measure of silver, whose value could change exclusively in relation to gold.
The perpera was named after the perper, one of the Greek names for the Byzantine gold nomisma. While Dubrovnik, Serbia and Bosnia used the perpera as their accounting unit, many West European states used solidus in the same way. In terms of value, a perpera corresponded to a solidus, so that either accounting unit expressed, for example, half the value of a Venetian ducat. The Italian city states, including the Venetian Republic, kept the nominal (ideal) solidus in their monetary systems in order to preserve a single standard for measuring prices in all of Europe, even when the minting of gold coins became more common in the latter half of the XIII century.

Medieval Serbian coins – period of feudal lords

Smaller coins, usually bearing Latin inscriptions, were minted in abudance during the rule of Prince Lazar and Despot Stefan Lazarević. At the time of Vuk Branković (1375-1396) new types of dinars were issued, much lighter than the above-mentioned stable dinar of this period. Various versions of this type of coin today weigh from 0.69-0.63 g. One of them, probably the first dinar of this new weight, bears the inscription „VLKOV DINAR“. Of a similar reduced weight is a coin from Novo Brdo issued by Prince Lazar and another type of coin during the period of feudal lord Đurđe Branković, its average present day weight ranging from 0.85-0.80 g. Dating from the time of Despot Đurđe Branković are coins of the same weight (present day average weight 1.08-0.98 g)as normal Serbian dinars circulating from the time of Emperor Uroš until Despot Đurđe, but with visible differences in size and thickness. While the above-mentioned stable Serbian dinar was 20-17 mm in diameter and thin, this new coin had a smaller diameter, 15-12 mm, and was thick. Since the features of this small thick coin corresponded completely with the contemporary Turkish aspra, akča, and since at the time of Despot Đurđemany accounts were reckoned in aspras, which were worth 20 percent more than dinars (a ducat was worth 35 aspras, or 42 dinars) it can be assumed that the aspras mentioned in documents refer to the above-mentioned coin issued by Despot Đurđe Branković. Aspras were smaller, thicker coins issued by Đurđe Branković weighing slightly over one gram, while the dinars then in circulation of a lesser value had an average weight of 0.85-0.80 g.
A receipt issued to Despot Đurđe Branković for treasure deposited in Dubrovnik lists among his gold and silver as silver coins only a million aspras. Since Despot Đurđe Branković minted a lot of coins, the money deposited clearly consisted of Serbian aspras, and not the Turkish money used in Serbia as formerly believed, since in that case it would have been listed only as part of the money deposited as was the case with Turkish gold coins in the gold deposit, which contained mostly Venetian and Hungarian gold coins. On the basis of the total weight quoted for the above-mentioned million aspras, one arrives at the current average weight of 1,08 to 0,98 g, if one adds six percent for wear.
During the rule of despots Stefan Lazarević and Đurđe Branković the smallest Serbian coin was minted, smallest in terms of circumference and weight, its original name unknown, today sometimes referred to as an obolus, but more appropriatey designated by the folk term maljušnik. It should be mentioned that the towns of Smederevo and Rudnik minted aspras, while Smederevo and Rudišta produced the maljušnik. Known examples of the maljušnik have an average weight of 0,26g, i.e. one fourth of the weight of the last stable Serbian dinar, that is, Serbian aspra.
Following the death of Emperor Dušan there is little point in classifying the types of coins owing to the large number of different types (stable or transitional), of persons and cities that minted coins, as well as the frequent lack of established local authorities responsible for the stability of issue, etc. Therefore, during this period coins were rarely and only exceptionally given names. A document dated 1367 mentions that Nikola Altomanović was paid 750 perperi in Rudnik dinars (9000 dinars), which may have referred to his own minted coinage.
The situation as regards coins was clearer on the coast where large amounts of stable types of coins were in circulation. Kotor dinars are mentioned in the second half of the 14th century, the late 14th and first half of the 15th centuries „grossi Balse“. Dinars minted by Balša III, which are considered the last stable type of Serbian dinar, today have an average weight of 1,05 g.
Of special interest are Serbian countermarked silver coins. Countermarks, that is, subsequently affixed marks, appear mostly on dinars minted by Emperor Dušan, generally on examples with Latin inscriptions. They are also found on dinars minted by the Bosnian ruler, Stjepan II Kotromanić (1314-1353). Analysis of the material indicates that countermarks, which exist in three forms, were affixed to damaged coins, coins that were worn down or nicked, but still kept in circulation. A number of circumstances indicate that these countermarks were affixed in western Serbian regions, probably in Zahumlje, during a period of a shortage of coins in Dubrovnik and its hinterland, as a result of the plague (1348), the re-establishment of Bosnian rule in Zahumlje (1350), or a change of rulers in Bosnia (1353).

Medieval Serbian coins – period of empire

During the reign of Emperor Dušan (1345-1355) a new basic type of coin appeared, stable as regards weight, the so-called imperial dinar, “del imperador”, which included several types of imperial dinars differing in terms of inscription and images. Their present-day average weight (1.41-1.34 g), six percent more or less due to wearing, is so close to the figure 1.52 g, which is what this coin weighed in 1353. This includes dinars depicting Emperor Dušan seated on his throne with a sword on his knees, or standing while two angels place a crown on his head, or on his horse and those with the imperial signature in several lines.
Towards the end of Dušan’s reign the imperial dinar, its weight greatly reduced, led to a new type of coin, “grossi de tercio” weighing a third of the stable imperial dinar (average present day weight 0.58-0.46 g). Also appearing during the imperial period were Kotor dinars, minted by Dušan and Uroš (1355-1371), their average weight 1.68 g. The Kotor dinars were also minted later during the existence of the Serbian state by foreign city protectors, Hungarian king Louis I (1342-1382) and Bosnian king Stefan Ostoja (1398-1404).
Comparing the average weights of the different types of coins we can say that from the time of Emperor Uroš until Despot Đurđe Branković (1402-1456) there were many different types with an average present day weight of about one gram (1.12-0.97 g, generally 1.08-1.04 g), i.e. dinars which originally weighted a little over one gram – about 1.15 g. Such dinars were minted by Emperor Uroš, King Vukašin (1365-1371), Prince Lazar (1370-1389), Despot Stefan Lazarević (1389-1427), along with numerous coins issued by Despot Đurđe Branković. The coins issued by Nikola Altomanović (1367-1373)and Balša III (1403-1421) also belong to this type. Along with this reduced dinar, Dušan’s small coin „grossi de tercio“, which kept its former weight during the reign of Emperor Uroš, was converted into a half dinar. During the rule of Emperor Uroš and King Vukašin and members of his family smaller dinars were also minted.

Medieval Serbian coins – period of kingdom

Medieval Serbian coins are among the most diverse and interesting areas of numismatics both in terms of the numerous types, the rulers, feudal lords and cities that minted coinage, and also in the remarkable beauty of the different images and inscriptions.
The earliest written record of a Serbian unit currency dates from the time of Stefan the First-crowned (1196-1228). A document dated 1214 mentions payment of 140 Slavonian perperi of Dubrovnik weight “yperperos Sclaunie ad pondus Ragusii”. The above-mentioned Slavonian coins refer to a specified amount of the Serbian state, alongside Byzantine silver and gold coins, until local minting. The later basic Serbian coin was the dinar, its name indirectly derived from the Roman denarius through the Italian unit denarius grossus or groschen. The former term appeared mostly in Cyrilic sources, and the latter in documents written in Latin or Italian. The dinar cited in documents is the same as the groschen mentioned in certain archaic sources. It was a minted silver coin, which initially had an image, weight (2.17 g) and the value of a Venetian matapan.
In use besides the dinar as a larger unit of currency was the perperus, which during the period of minting royal and imperial coins was equal to the sum of 12 dinars.
The first Serbian ruler to mint coins was King Stefan Radoslav (1228-1233), the eldest son of Stefan the First-crowned. This was a scyphate silver and cooper coin with a Greek inscription, similar to Byzantine coins of the period. Here one finds the ruler’s name and title “STEFANOS RIZ O DOUKAS” as in the signature on the only surviving charter granted by King Stefan Radoslav in 1234. His coins were minted outside the territory of the Serbian state at a mint belonging to his father-in-law Theodore Angelus in Thessalonica.
For a fairly long time after the death of King Stefan Radoslav there are no traces of the existence of Serbian coinage.
The first minted Serbian dinars appear during the reign of King Uroš I (1243-1276), probably towards the end of his rule. A document dated 1281 mentions payment in Brescoa dinars „denariorum grossorum Brescoa“, effected in the summer of 1276. Serbian dinars were also mentioned together with Venetian matapans, „denariis grossis de Veneciis et de Brescoa“ on September 29, 1277 in a Dubrovnik customs register stating that they were exempt from export duties. Not only were Venetian dinars exempt from custom duties, but also Serbian dinars from Brescoa, the place they were minted. These were the first Serbian dinars modelled after Venetian silver coins clearly differing from them with their inscription. The original type of Serbian dinar was later called a flagged dinar, „de Brescoa de bandera“. Cited in 1281 are dinars with a cross and lily, „de cruce et de lilio“ and dinars with a sword, „de macia“. These new Serbian dinars differ not only in design and inscription but also in weight and value, increasingly dinstinct from the original Venetian matapan.
During the reign of King Milutin (1282-1321) two basic types were established, their issue continuing until the end of his rule and possibly longer. The first basic type was the dinar with a cross, mentioned 1312-1358, inscribed with a symbolic image of the king receiving a cross with a double crosspiece from St. Stephen. Another distinctive feature was that its value was less the other basic type, the Rudnik dinar.
The Rudnik dinar was heavier and worth about 20 percent more than the dinar with the cross. During the reigns of kings Dragutin (1276-1316) and Vladislav II (1316-1325) it bore images of the rulers in a standing position, later replaced by illustrations of the king in armour, seated on his throne, holding a sword on his knees.
When Dušan became king (1331-1345) there appeared dinars with an image of a helmet. The term Novo Brdo dinar, “de Nouaberda”, may refer to this type, also minted later during the imperial period.

Serbian medieval coinage

Serbian state, already organized in the second half of twelfth century, was developing quickly during thirteen and fourteen centuries, so that in 1217 it became a kingdom and in 1346 an empire. Extension of the territories and growth of accompanied by development of trade, and consequently a need for money and its mintage. Due to the numerous silver mines like Brskovo, Rudnik, Novo Brdo, Plana, Srebrenica, Rudište and work of the nearby mints, the minting of Serbian medieval coins continued from the end of twelfth century until 1459, the year when Serbia lost its sovereignty. From that year, when the last Serbian medieval coins were minted, four centuries would past before the first coins of a renewed Serbia appeared again.
A chronology of the Serbian medieval money comprises a great number of issues by the Serbian kings, emperors, feudal lords and despots. Although numerous types of money, with different images and motives on the heads and the image of Christ on the tails reflect a spirit of the Byzantine and West-European monetary tradition, some of these coins are true examples of an original national currency.
Although “Serbian dinars” are first mentioned in the archival documents dating as early as 1214, as far as it is known there is no any numismatic piece to prove that such coins really existed. The data refer to King Radoslav (1228-1234) and his copper and silver coins, belonging to the oldest period of the Serbian coinage. Although these coins were made after the Byzantine coins of that time called “scyphate”, which can be easily seen in their shape, images and inscriptions in Geek, these coins were made in the mint working in the fortified medieval town of Ras, on the territory of Serbian state.
In the middle of thirteen century, other shapes, influenced by the great role that Republic of Venice had in the Mediterranean trade, led to the coinage of a new money. First issues of this currency were connected to King Dragutin (1267-1316) and opening of the mint in Brskovo mine on the Tara mountain. These coins, with an image of ruler and saint shown in the standing position, and a Latin inscription of the ruler’s title, were minted in Serbia for a long time, as the later kings, Milutin (1282-1321) and Stefan Dečanski (1321-1331) continued to mint the same currency. Influenced by the cultural and political spirits arriving from the South Italy and Hungary, the western monetary tradition led to a new monetary type. It belongs to time of King Dragutin, and has an image of the King-warrior, sitting on the throne with a sword across his knees; this coin is a sort of link connecting several generations of rulers who continued to mint these coins until Serbia ceased minting its money. By a new coinage, King Dragutin introduced an important innovation into money minted by the Serbian kings. It was a legend “Stefan rabh Hristou”, the first Cyrillic inscription in Serbian numismatics that frames the image of ruler standing with a scepter in his hand.
Influence of the Western medieval tradition on Serbian coinage, although obvious and very important, was marginal in that great era when Serbia was flourishing under influence of the Byzantine political ideas and culture, which also effected its monetary policy. A wave of Greek ideas, evident in an earlier period during reign of King Milutin, spread in time of Stefan Dušan (1331-1355). After conquering a great part of the Bulgarian and Byzantine territories, and proclaiming himself Emperor in 1346, with a haughty title of the “Emperor of the Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians” Emperor Dušan, resolute to become a future Byzantine emperor, conveyed all splendor of the Byzantine court to Serbia, and adapted his various images on the coins after the Byzantine fashion. The Latin, namely Cyrillic inscription of the emperor’s title, frames his images on the coins, where he is shown as sitting on the throne, riding a horse, in the coronation scene, or together with his Empress. In all these images, duly propagating the Emperor’s ideology, the first Serbian Emperor is shown in an attire and with insignia that Byzantine Emperors were invested with at coronation and bearing at the formal ceremonies. Knowing that money, as means of trade outside Serbian borders could be used to make its ruler, his victories and power of a new Empire more popular, thirteen monetary types were minted in three mining centers – Brskovo, Rudnik and Novo Brdo. With the biggest money production in the medieval Serbia, Dušan’s dinars and half-dinars, made of high quality silver and using a skillful molding technique, belonged to the higher European money standard of that time.
Even in time of the Empire, it was a known practice of feudal lords – despot Jovan Oliver and King Vukašin – to usurp the exclusive right of the ruler to mint coins, and the same tendency continued in a great measure after the fall. In this period, in the mints of Rudnik and NovoBrdo, numerous money issues were minted by the Serbian lords from King Vukašin’s and Branko Mladenović’s families, župan Gropa, chieftain Smil, the sevastokrators Vlatko, Jakov, Rig, the patriarchs and the towns. Although in most cases these coins, by their iconography, were connected to the earlier monetary types, some new issues appeared. Such were the coins of Prince Lazar (1371-1389) and Vuk Branković (1371-1376); first, showing standing Prince, has a legend of his title in Italian, and the other one, without ruler’s image, for the first time bears inscription “vlkov dinar”, the name of Serbian currency. With fall of Empire and closing down of the emperor’s mints, as well as Turkish occupation of almost all parts of the Nemanjić’s Serbia, the feudal lords ceased to mint their money.
During short period in which the Turkish expansion was held back, and the state began reorganizing after the Kosovo battle Serbia started again to mint its coins. This time is characterized by numerous money issues by the Serbian despots – Stefan Lazarević (1389-1427) and Djuradj Branković (1428-1455). By their aesthetic quality, the quality of mint, and diversity of the motives, these issues occupy a distinguished place in the Serbian numismatics. Best example are the samples with stylized images of lions or amazingly realistic portrait of the ruler on the coins minted by despot Djuradj. With the last issue of these coins, minted in the Novo Brdo, Smederevo and Rudišta mints until despot’s death, and with fall of the Serbian state in 1459, minting of the Serbian medieval coins finally met its end.

ĐURĐE I BALŠIĆ IN THE LIGHT OF COINAGE

The name of the Balšić feudal family was mentioned for the first time in 1360, in a charter of Serbian emperor Uroš. They have ruled Serbian mediaeval district of Zeta more than a half century (1365-1421). Their coinage is scarce; it is believed that only 260 pieces of coins minted by members of this family survived altogether.
As for the coinage of Đurđe (George) I Balšić, the most prominent member of this family, it could be divided in seven groups. Type I is represented by AR Dinar, 1.04 g, dia. 18 mm. It has on obverse inscription in four lines, and on reverse image of Christ sitting on the throne with high back. Coins of type II are represented by AR Dinar of 0.97 g and 18 mm, with inscription in four lines on obverse and Serbian coat of arms of Rascia on reverse. AR Dinars of Type III also have inscription in old Serbian Cyrillic letters in four lines on obverse, and head of the wolf and helmet on reverse, with initial „G“, while Type IV has inscription in five lines on obverse, on reverse head of the wolf, a helmet and name „Gyurg“ in Cyrillic’s. Coins belonging to Type V are represented by AR Dinars which are 18-19 mm in diameter, having inscription in five lines on obverse and head of the wolf differently designed than at the previous species. The only known piece (in the Museum of Slavonia in Osijek) is damaged; it has only 2/3 of its surface. The newly discovered Type VI, or variety of the 4th and the 5th type, represents the piece that is described and illustrated for the first time in this article, and it is the only known piece of that kind up to now. It is AR Dinar, 0.7 g, diameter 17 mm, with inscription in five lines on obverse (same as type IV), and the same reverse as type V, but due to the good condition we can see now the complete design of that reverse type. Finally, coins of Type VII are represented by AR Dinar of smallest size (0.5g, 10 mm). The only known piece arise from the Lj. Kovačević collection, now in the National Museum in Belgrade.

Monetary system in medieval Serbia

Monetary system in medieval Serbia rested on the exploitation of rich mines which in the course of the entire period of the minting of coins represented their foundation. The production of silver had an important part in profit making, but exerted a negative impact on the development of local economy. It evolved slowly, because many items were purchased somewhere else at cheap silver. Precious metal in the form of ingots and coins were exported to Venice, for the most part through the mediation of Dubrovnik merchants. Silver was exported without fulfilling its basic monetary function.
The first Serbian coins of King Radoslav and the renewed coinage in the time of King Dragutin rested on the monetary systems of their respective epochs: the coins of King Radoslav on the Byzantine monetary system, and the one of King Dragutin on the Venetian system, representing the main monetary unit on these territories. With the passage of time, money of account developed on the basis of the perpero with the value of 12 grossi. During the entire period, the monetary system was under constant pressure for numerous reasons, such as the devaluation of the dinar for financing a budget deficit, an increasing demand for coins, payments in coins, etc. it was also influenced by external factors mirrored in the disappearance of silver from circulation and its outflow, the general trend of the deterioration of coins, fluctuation between the prices of gold and silver, etc. An important role was certainly played by non-monetary factors, which primarily include: diminishing of territories, the problem of population density, climate conditions, plague, prices, trade decline, reconversion of trade – decline in the export of one article and its replacement by a new, more perfect one, and many others. Due to numerous pressures, the value of Serbian coins from the beginning of their minting in 1276 to the beginning of the 15th century constantly declined with lesser or larger oscillations; from theoretical 2.178 g it was reduced to only 0.40 g. On the other hand, this mutation of the dinar was followed by the gradual decline in the monetary stock. This process began in the time of the Emperor Uroš and was certainly correlated with the political and economic crisis, as well as the general decline in the quantity of precious metal in Europe.
Further currents of the monetary system were determined by the gradual dissolution of the Serbian Empire and the rule of independent local rulers. In spite of having been divided into several wholes, it ought to be stressed that monetary systems remained connected. The main trend of this period, as well as the previous one, until the creation of the Serbian despotate, was the continuous depreciation of the dinar, with smaller or larger interruptions.
A sharp increase in the price of this metal at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century brought about a search for new mines and their opening. In this period new mines were opened in Serbia, and the old ones considerably increased their production. The decline in the production of silver in Europe was partially halted by the influx of new quantities of this metal, most probably originating from Balkans.
The monetary reform of the Despot Stefan Lazarević, carried out after 1402, in which the weight of dinar, that is, its value, considerably increased, should be viewed in this light. Other measures undertaken by the Despot were aimed at the preservation of revenue. With the aim of preserving the monetary system, in 1421 the Despot Stefan Lazarević forbade the export of silver and gold to the Ragusa’s.
In spite of the significant production of silver, negative trends of monetary currents were also felt in Serbia, primarily as the consequence of the political crisis, the incursion of the Turks and the loss of territories. With the fall of Smederevo in 1459, the Serbian medieval state ceased to exist.
One year prior to this, Serbian coinage, for two centuries representing one of the most important monetary markets in the Balkans, ended with the coinage of the Despot Lazar Branković. Numerous types of coins which marked this development testify to the political strength and economic power of Serbian kings, emperors, feudal lords, towns and despots. They left behind them coins, frequently as the only source, behind whose shine the still unexplored world is hidden.

From book “Serbian medieval coinage” of Vujadin Ivanišević

A Serbian grossus of the Venetian type and the problem of the chronology of the earliest coinage of medieval Serbia

A document dated December 26th, 1214, refers to the yperperi Sclavonie (meaning “the yperperi of Serbia”). This is the earliest piece of evidence concerning the coinage of medieval Serbia. It is probable that the yperperi in question were minted by the magnus iupanus Stephanus (1196 – 1217), the future king (1217 – 1228), but no Serbian coin attributable to that period was published so far. A grossus from the Collection of late Svetozar St. Dusanic seems to support the testimony of the document of 1214. Its obverse legend, STEFAN – S STEFAN/DVX, shows that it was produced in Serbia, while the dynast’s title, dux (to be understood as an international equivalent to the Serbian title of magnus iupanus?), dates the issue before Stephen’s coronation in 1217. The matapan type of the grossus well accords with the intensity of the Serbo – Venetian relations after c. 1202. Its rarity will have indicated a commemorative issue, perhaps to be connected with Stephen’s marriage ( in the first decade of the thirteenth century?) with Anna Dandolo, the granddaughter of Enrico Dandolo, great doge of Venice. The present whereabouts of the piece being unknown.

The iconography of Dusan’s imperial coins

Dusan’s imperial coinage bearing the image of the enthroned ruler was influenced by the coin types of his predecessors who produced coins with this image (the so called Robertin type). Parallel to the appearance of the new iconography – a crown in the closed Byzantine style, the stemma, the imperial divitision, the imperial title, the ruler’s throne with a high back – which was reflecting the prevailing imperial ideology, the need arose to introduce an iconographic method in studying it.
On the basis of specimens from the Belgrade National Museum’s collection of medieval coins, in the basic image one perceives three iconographic types:
- the first with the ruler seated on a throne without a back holding a sword across his knees,
- the second holding a sceptre in his right hand,
- the third, a completely new type depicting the emperor seated on a throne with a high back.
All the images of the emperor enthroned were a symbolic representation of imperial power by divine right is confirmed in the image of Christ on the reverse of the coin. The symbol of rule by divine right is also seen in the proud title “Emperor and Absolute Ruler of Serbia and Romania” inscribed on the coin, and the cult of imperial majesty is seen to have reached its peak in the image of the enthroned emperor on Dusan’s imperial coinage.

The role and importance of letter and other marks on Serbian medieval coins

The majority of authors who wrote about this extremely important and controversial topic on Serbian medieval coinage, interpreted these marks as the initials of some person working in a mint, but R. Maric considered them to be abbreviations at the names of places where the mints operated. However, the very existence oaf a large number of entirely different letter marks on certain types of dinars leads us to believe that such assumptions are unconvincing. For example, on Dusan’s coronation type we have found more than 30 different letter marks, at the some time it was established that no more than 4-5 master die-cutters were responsible for the production of this type of Dusan’s coinage.
Letter marks were analyzed on the dinars of certain die-cutters in some of Dusan’s imperial types, above all on the type with an image of the emperor being crowned by angels. The first thing which was observed, with one exception, was that there were no coincidental letter marks on the dinars of 4 die-cutters who we established as being the producers of this type of dinar. This means that the die-cutters engraved different letters but they chose those letters which were not used by other die-cutters. A number of facts and an analysis of the numerous specimens of Dusan’s dinars support the following conclusions:
that the letter marks are not the initials of the die-cutters
that the letter marks are not the initials of some person in the mint
that the letter marks are not mint marks

As far as the alteration of the letter marks on the part of certain master die-cutters is concerned, considering that some die-cutters, when engraving certain types of coins used up to some 20 different marks, the conclusion arises that the die-cutters did this for the sake of keeping their own records of the number of dies cut, on which undoubtedly, the level of their wages depended. To be more precise, they marked a specific number of moulds with a particular letter mark and some, again a specific number, they left without letter markings. The facts which are in favor of this assumption were summarized and illustrated by two examples.
One more problem was considered: in how many mints was the type depicting the emperor being crowned by angels minted, and the standpoint was upheld that it was struck in one mint.
All these conclusions were then checked by the analysis of Dusan’s type with the emperor and the empress standing and holding a large crucifix between them.
Finally, the role and importance of various larger non-letter marks were considered (various flowers, tree trunks, crucifix, half moon and circles). It can be established for those large marks that they were inseparably connected to certain die-cutters, although a small number of die-cutters engraved such marks. It seemed that they served various purposes: for ornamentation or marking a group of dies. As far as the small circle marks are concerned, recent analysis do not sad us in any particular way to any of the large number of possible assumptions.

How many mints were there in Serbia in the late thirteenth century

In the late thirteenth century, Brskovo and Rudnik dominated the scene. Later, new mining areas were opened up, and it would be surprising if the number of mints increased. A limited pilot study, concentrating on the coronation and horseman types of Stefan Dusan, shows that the proportions of different sigla vary sharply from one hoard to another. The hoards also show that the sigla can be grouped to some extent, and they also show some marks are very plentiful while others are uncommon or rare. This could reflect major mints and smaller mints. If we could interpret only the most common half-dozen marks as mint-marks, this would already account for over 90% of the coins.
The half-dozen relevant hoards about which details are avaible can be placed more or less in chronological order, well enough that it then becomes difficult to explain the differences in the proportions of certain sigla in them by any other hypothesis than that they are secret-marks.
What would in principle be a clinching argument, if a larger assemblage of hoards were available, is that the varying proportions occur on a regional basis. This already seems to be the case – coins without sigla are most plentifulin the south-west, at Belovo and Kicevo. Coins with N-O are heavily predominant in the regions nearest the prolific silver mine of Novo Brdo. This gives some encouragement to think that the letters could stand for the mint name, although it does not follow that they must do so in every case. No large northerm hoard, from anywhere near Rudnik, is available, and coins marked R-V are distinctly less common in the southern hoards than they are in Ljubic`s catalogue.
Stylistic analysis would in all probability help to confirm and extend the conclusions to which the hoards are beginning to point. The coronation coins are quite varied in style, and a good classification of them in terms of their die-cutting could be made. It could then be correlated with the sigla. What this will tell us, there is no way of guessing in advance. There may have been more mints than die-cutting centres, but if some at least of the sigla refer openly to mint-places grouing them regionally by means of the hoards and the stylistic analysis should open the way for some well-founded hypotheses. Mints, as opposed to die-cutting centres, might be distinguished by correlating other physical aspects of the coins, e.g. weight-dispersions or trace elements.
If we can eventually attribute most of the coins to their mints, this will be of some interest for Serbian history, because it should permit an assessment of monetary circulation within Serbia – again through a topographical analysis of the hoards.

About Serbian dinars with the Nemanjic coat of arms

In the 14th century rulers from the Nemanjić dynasty mint ed silver dinars with their family coat of arms, which was in a form of small pillow having three balls on each corner and the head decoration (“čelenka”) which resembled the peacock feather. From the period of their Kingdom there exist six types of dinars with that coat of arms. After the Crusader’s occupation of Constantinople in 1204, Empires of Nikea and Trapezunt had been founded and the emperors of Trapezunt had taken for their coat of arms a golden double-headed eagle . When Byzantines reca ptured Constantinople, Emperor Michael VIII had introdu ced the heraldic Byzantine shield with four letters “B” between the arms of the cross . Stefan Nemanjić, the first crowned Serbian king, was crowned with the Byzantine crown, which he got from the emperor of Nikea. The appearance of that oldest Serbian crown is preserved at the portal of the Žiča monastery, as is the appearance of crown of Radoslav, heir of the throne. Crowns of kings Dragutin and Milutin, of the same form presented to him by emperor Andronicus, while in the Studenica monastery we can see the new Milutin’s crown. At that time king Mlutin had adopted his royal title “Stefan Uroš by the Grace of God King and the sole ruler of all the Serbian and Littoral Lands.” After his marriage with Byzantine princes Simonida, king Milutin started to use the double-headed eagle as the decorative element, and after the visit of his brother-in-law Dimitry in 1313, king Milutin had taken the new crown and in troduced the new family coat of arms, depicting double-headed eagle. As the Byzantines used the same coat of arms since 1282, king Milutin had placed silver (white) eagle on the red (purple) base. From that time until now, red and white have been used as the Serbian heraldic colors. The oldest preserved Serbian coat of arms (from 1314) comes from the Žiča monastery and it is kept today in the National Museum in Belgrade.