50 Kuna

Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991 triggered an immediate currency problem: the Yugoslav dinar was politically untenable but the new kuna wouldn't arrive until May 1994. This 50 kuna note, dated 1993, was part of the preparatory print run commissioned from Giesecke & Devrient in Leipzig well ahead of the formal introduction — the notes were held in reserve, not released at date of printing.

The design was a deliberate act of cultural reclamation. Miroslav Šutej, one of Croatia's most prominent graphic artists and a figure associated with the international New Tendencies movement, was brought in alongside Šimun Šutej to establish a visual identity rooted in Croatian heritage rather than the shared Yugoslav idiom the new state was rejecting.