Montenegro, Kingdom of: Coins Issued and Used

The perper (Serbian Cyrillic: Перпер; plural перпери) was the currency of Montenegro between 1906 and 1918. The name was adopted in accordance to the earlier Serbian perper, the currency of the Serbian Empire, to which the Principality, later Kingdom of Montenegro, consider itself a successor. It was divided into 100 pare (singular para, Serbian: паре, пара) and was equivalent to the Austro-Hungarian krone.

In 1906, coins were issued in denominations of 1, 2, 10 and 20 pare. The 1 and 2 pare were bronze, the 10 and 20 pare were nickel. In 1909, silver 1 and 5 perpera coins were added, followed by 2 perpera in 1910. Gold 10 and 20 perpera were also issued in 1910, along with very limited numbers of 100 perpera coins.

Banknotes were issued in 1912 by the treasury in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 perpera. In 1914, the government issued three series on notes, in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 perpera. During the Austrian occupation during World War I, government notes of the second and third series were overprinted by the military government district commands. In 1917, the Austrian army issued convertible vouchers denominated in perpera, perpera coins (Münzperper) and Kronen, with 2 perpera = 1 coin perper = 1 Krone.

The perper was replaced by the dinar when Montenegro became part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia).

At the end of the 20th century, Montenegro contemplated issuing the perper again. However, it decided to adopt the Deutsche mark instead, and later followed the change to the euro.