2 Perpera

Montenegro printed its own banknotes domestically at Cetinje, which was unusual for a small Balkan state — most contemporaries outsourced to Vienna, Paris, or London. The 1914 issue came as the country was mobilizing for what would become its final independent war effort before the 1916 Austro-Hungarian occupation effectively ended Montenegrin statehood for several years.

The typographic underprint was the only real security measure available given the limitations of local printing. Sophisticated counterfeiting wasn't the primary concern — the occupation was.