10 paras, Mihailo Obrenović III

The renewal of the national currency in Serbia in the nineteenth century is inseparable from the renewal of its statehood. The era of uprisings, wars and mutinies, which achieved the long-desired national liberation, was crowned with the recognition of an independent state at the Berlin Congress in 1878. Simultaneously with the political liberation from Turkish dependence, the first steps were taken towards establishing own monetary system. The importance of the national coin as a symbol of statehood was acknowledged by Prince Mihailo Obrenović (1860-1868), and the decision to mint the first coin in renewed Serbia was made during his second reign. The first series of modern Serbian money was minted in the Imperial and Royal Mint in Vienna, from copper alloy, in denominations: 1 para, 5 paras and 10 paras, with matrices of engravers Anton Scharf and Friedrich Leisek. After more than four centuries, since the minting of Serbian medieval money, the first money of the renewed state was minted. Serbia got a coin with the image of its ruler and inscriptions in the Serbian language. The obverse of this series is dominated by a portrait of Prince Mihailo with a circular inscription OBRENOVIĆ III. PRINCE OF SERBIA. The reverse displays the value and year of minting, 1868. The top of the wreath of laurel and oak branches shows the Prince's crown. Released into circulation a year after the prince's unfortunate death, this money was in use for almost thirty years..