20 Banica

Hrvatska Banka was never an operational central bank in any conventional sense — it was established by the Croatian parliament in 1990 as a preparatory institution ahead of independence, and these banica-denominated notes were issued as a political statement as much as a monetary instrument. Croatia was still formally part of Yugoslavia when they appeared, and the Yugoslav federal authorities considered them illegal tender.

The banica itself — one hundredth of the Croatian dinar — had no predecessor in living memory, the name revived from pre-war usage. Notes of this series were never widely circulated for transactions and were quickly superseded once the Croatian dinar was formally introduced in December 1991.