Pattern coinage for Serbia in this period was almost entirely the work of foreign mints competing for royal contracts — this piece belongs to a round of trial strikes produced ahead of the regular 1 Dinar issue, at a moment when the Obrenović dynasty was attempting to stabilize Serbian finances following years of costly conflict and the fiscal strain of the 1885 war with Bulgaria. Alexander I was still a minor when these patterns were struck, with the regency council holding effective authority.
The Mandić and Višćević references both place this among the rarest Serbian pattern issues of the decade.
Pattern coinage for Serbia in this period was almost entirely the work of foreign mints competing for royal contracts — this piece belongs to a round of trial strikes produced ahead of the regular 1 Dinar issue, at a moment when the Obrenović dynasty was attempting to stabilize Serbian finances following years of costly conflict and the fiscal strain of the 1885 war with Bulgaria. Alexander I was still a minor when these patterns were struck, with the regency council holding effective authority.
The Mandić and Višćević references both place this among the rarest Serbian pattern issues of the decade.