5 Perpera – Montenegro

In 1912, Montenegro existed as the independent Kingdom of Montenegro, but its monetary system was a complex and practical reflection of its geopolitical position and economic limitations. The kingdom did not issue its own domestic currency for general circulation. Instead, its economy operated on a de facto standard based on foreign silver coins, primarily the Austro-Hungarian krone (or crown), which dominated commerce due to the Habsburg Monarchy's overwhelming economic and political influence in the Balkan region. This situation was typical for smaller Balkan states of the period, which often relied on the stable currencies of larger empires to facilitate trade and maintain monetary stability.

Alongside the Austro-Hungarian krone, other foreign silver coins, such as the French franc, the Italian lira, and the Russian ruble, also circulated freely within Montenegro's borders. This created a multi-currency environment where the value of goods and transactions was commonly expressed in kronen, but payments could be made with a mix of these accepted foreign coins. The Montenegrin state did mint its own metallic currency, but these issues—the perper, subdivided into 100 para—were limited in scope. First introduced in 1906, the perper was used almost exclusively for state payments, ceremonial purposes, and as a symbol of national sovereignty, rather than as a practical, everyday circulating medium.

This reliance on foreign currency underscored Montenegro's economic vulnerability and its integration into broader European financial systems on terms dictated by more powerful neighbors. The system functioned but left the kingdom without independent monetary policy. The outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912, in which Montenegro joined Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece against the Ottoman Empire, would have further strained this arrangement, potentially disrupting trade flows and the supply of foreign coinage, while increasing the financial demands on the state for military expenditure.