The following two coins are from the SOCIALIST FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA. The first is a 1,000 Dinara silver commemorative for the 'Death of Josip Broz Tito (known as Marshall Tito) in 1980. Tito, who was the communist ruler of Yugoslavia since 1945, created many policies that decentralized the government and gave each of the six (initially five) republics equal status. While not perfect, it kept the peace in the region. However, following Tito's death, there was no successor to carry on his work. This lead to Yugoslavia's slow downward spiral to disintegration. By the late 1980's, Serbian ultra-nationalist Slobodan Milosevic, began to undo everything that Tito had achieved. In 1989, he used the 600th anniversary of the 'Battle of Kosovo' to stir up Serbian nationalism, and caused Serbia to take a more dominant stance. Milosevic undermined the Yugoslav parliament and military, by trying to place it under Serbian domination. This caused serious tensions with the neighboring republics which came to a head with the secession of Slovenia and Croatia in 1991 and Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia in 1992. This sparked a civil war which left portions of Croatia and most of Bosnia in ruins. In the end, Serbia and Montenegro was all that remained of Yugoslavia. The second coin is 5 Dinara dated 1992. It bears the coat-of-arms for the six republic federation, but was issued for what was already a defunct nation. YUGOSLAVIA (SOCIALIST FEDERAL REPUBLIC)~1,000 Dinara 1980 YUGOSLAVIA (SOCIALIST FEDERAL REPUBLIC)~5 Dinara 1992
This next section deals with coins from the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA. Following the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro formed a new union called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. Slobodan Milosevic, used this name as a guise for his real goal of creating a greater Serbian state. The first is a 5 Dinara coin dated 1992. It has a very simple design with a monogram on the obverse side with the national name in Roman and Cyrillic legend. The reverse show the date and denomination. The second is 20 Novih Dinara proof dated 1996 commemorating the 140th birthday of Nikola Tesla. The obverse shows the new arms of Yugoslavia, national name in Cyrillic, date and denomination. The reverse shows Tesla's portrait,Tesla's name in Cyrillic, location and date for birth and death. The third is a 5 Dinara coin dated 2002. The obverse shows the state arms with the national name in Roman and Cyrillic. The reverse shows the Yugoslav Parliament Building with date and denomination. 2002 coins were the last to carry the name Yugoslavia, and also the last time Serbia and Montenegro used a common currency. YUGOSLAVIA (FEDERAL REPUBLIC)~5 Dinara 1992 YUGOSLAVIA (FEDERAL REPUBLIC)~20 Novih Dinara 1996 YUGOSLAVIA (FEDERAL REPUBLIC)~5 Dinara 2002
