5 Perpera

Montenegro's 1914 paper issues were produced under severe fiscal pressure — the Perpera had only been established as the country's currency unit in 1906, and by the outbreak of the First World War the government had neither a central bank nor the infrastructure to manage a sustained paper currency. The Ministry of Finance issued these notes directly, bypassing any banking intermediary entirely.

When Austro-Hungarian forces occupied Cetinje in January 1916, remaining stocks of Montenegrin paper money became largely worthless almost overnight. Surviving circulated examples frequently show the creasing and wear consistent with notes that passed through many hands in a very short window before the occupation ended their practical use.