500 Kuna

Croatia's 1993 note series was printed under urgent conditions — the country had declared independence in 1991, the Homeland War was ongoing, and a functioning national currency was a political and logistical priority. G&D Leipzig supplied several denominations, with this being among the higher-value pieces in that initial kuna reintroduction. The kuna itself carried deliberate historical weight: it had last circulated under the wartime Ustaše government, a fact that provoked sharp criticism at the time of reintroduction from Serbian politicians and some international observers.

Miroslav Šutej was one of Croatia's most respected graphic artists, known internationally for his optical and kinetic work. His involvement gave the series a design pedigree unusual for emergency-era currency.