1 Perper

Montenegro's decision to print its own paper currency at Cetinje in 1914 was driven by the acute coin shortage that followed the Balkan Wars of 1912–13. The Perper had existed as a coin since 1906, but the state lacked the infrastructure and bullion reserves to keep metallic currency in adequate supply once wartime hoarding set in.

Printing domestically rather than commissioning a foreign security printer was unusual for a state this small, and the quality reflects that — the control stamp served as the primary anti-counterfeiting measure because the printing itself offered little protection. Within months of issue, the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Montenegro in early 1916 rendered these notes functionally worthless.