2020-12-15
Other articles >
The first money of independent estonia
How the country's monetary system began with the eyes of an owl
The first Republic of Estonia was proclaimed on February 24, 1918 as a consequence of the collapse of the Russian Empire into its national outskirts.
By the time of the declaration of independence, the country had neither its own currency nor a Central Bank, but German East marks were in circulation-they were used by Estonians in 1919 when creating the national monetary system.
The Estonians did not start with coins or banknotes, but with treasury notes in denominations of 5 pennies, 10 pennies, 20 pennies, 50 pennies, 1 mark, 3 marks, 5 marks, 10 marks, 25 marks and 100 marks.
The Estonian mark was equated to the German Ost mark and divided into 100 pennies.
Why did Estonians call their national currency marks and pennies?
The word 'mark' as a monetary unit is traditionally associated with Germany – both as a coin and as paper money.
The word 'penny' is of English origin, and it is an old one: even King Offa from a country called Mercia, which was on the territory of Great Britain in the VIII century AD, introduced a silver coin with this name.
But the Estonians did not go so far into history, but looked at their neighbors-the Finns: since 1860, both small pennies and large stamps have been circulating, and at the same time they have demonstrated an amazing stability of their purchasing power.
Paper – never easier, without watermarks, paint - green image on a white background. But what is drawn on the bill is worth a separate mention.
The treasury note issued in circulation of the smallest denomination-5 pennies had the size of a postage stamp-68 mm X 43 mm.
The inscription on the bill is never shorter: 'Eesti Vabariigi Kassataht' - 'Treasury of the Republic of Estonia' and the nominal value - '5 penni 5'.
'Owl Eyes in the forest' - this is the name for the figure comprehensible only with very careful consideration of bills: it is formed by the branches of a stylized tree of unknown breed. Ie owl is depicted as a whole, but to notice the bird can only rebounding from widely-set eyes, which are framed by the denomination, such as 5 – 'owl eyes' - 5.
Owl in Estonian is 'öökull', we pronounce this word in the English manner 'oh, sool' - in translation into Russian we get 'this is cool'.
'Cool Estonian money' was similar in the country for a long time – only in 1928 Estonians changed hastily issued treasury notes, at the same time changing the name of the national currency: stamps - to crowns, pennies – to cents.
Первые деньги независимой Эстонии
5 пенни 1919 г.
Country
:
Эстония
Denomination
:
5 пенни
Year
:
1919
Quantity
:
Issuer
:
Series
:
Valid from
:
Valid till
:
Cancelled
:
