Tesla banknotesTesla probably holds the record by the number of times he appeared on different banknotes - There are 13 different designs with denominations going from 5 to 10 000 000 000. I find this to be somewhat ironic, since for the most of his life he struggled with money.

The first banknote depicting tesla is 500 Dinara dated 1st August 1970.

This banknote couldnt be more Yugoslavian Tesla was an ethnic Serb, born in Croatia. Even today everybody from states that were created from Yugoslavia loves him. The statue that is depicted on the face was made by a Croatian sculptor Frane Krsinic. First statue was raised in front of Faculty of Electric Engineering in Belgrade in 1963, second was gifted to United States in 1976 and raised at Niagara Falls. People holding hands in circle on the back are symbolizing Bratsvo i Jedinstvo (Brotherhood and Unity of Yugoslavian People) a concept, most believed in until the end of 80s. All of the banknotes from this period have the same circle around the denomination.If you want to get the first banknote issued, you should be careful and get the one with 6 digits serial number. The 7 digits serial number was issued in 1977 and the note is slightly more common.When this note was issued, it was worth a lot of money. It was the highest denomination at the time. One could buy a dinner for 10 people at a very nice restaurant for it. The note in 1977 was worth less at the time, because there was a steady inflation. At that point it wasnt the highest nomination anymore, 1000 Dinars were issued in 1974. There are also variations with different dates 1978, 1981 and 1986, with different signatures and slight variations (letter distance and etc.).

Above: Tesla Monument at Goat Island, Niagara Falls, New York. Gift of Yugoslavia to the United States, 1976.

Belgrade statue kids love to sit in his lap.

1990 1000 Dinars,1991 1000 Dinars, 1992 1000 DinarsOn these banknotes we have old Tesla, I believe that the picture is from Liberty Magazine from 1935, the article in which he was talking about death ray. Tesla at this period was living alone in his hotel feeding pigeons. The entire series from this period is depressive, the miner on 20.000 is looking worried, Tito and Andric (5000 banknotes) are looking worried too. If you compare these banknotes with 100 Dinars 1955 or 1000 Dinars 1955 you will see a huge difference. 1991 1000 Dinars (Blue Tesla) was one of the last notes to be issued in SFRJ Yugoslavia, before the war started.

1000 Dinars 1992 (Red Tesla) is the beginning of the Hyperinflation, started by Milosevic. The country is SR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the code of arms is replaced by the National Bank of Yugoslavias logo.During the hyperinflation these notes with Tesla will be issued:1993 - 5 000 000

On the back transformer and hydro-electrical plant Djerdap are depicted.1993 10 000 000 000

Transformer is depicted on the back.At the time many people felt that these banknotes defaced the important figures depicted, since this money was worthless. Looking from todays perspective I find it cool that Tesla got the 10 000 000 000 note

1993 5000 They have erased the 6 zeros by doing denomination of the notes 1 000 000 dinars was exchanged for 1. Hyperinflation continued...

Tesla museum in Belgrade is at the back. His ashes are laid to rest there next to some of his inventions.

1994 100Another denomination was done, this time 1 000 000 000 dinars exchanged for 1. Hyperinflation continued

1994 5 Novih Dinara (5 new dinars)

At the end of Yugoslav hyperinflation the printing presses at the state mint overheated. People were fed up and the strikes and protests were raised around the country. Milosevic appointed Dragoslav Avramovic to put the end to the hyperinflation, which he did by abolishing the freedom of press (By press I mean the single one at the state mint that is in charge printing the money joke from the time). This was the second worst hyperinflation of all times, not it is third because of Zimbabwe hyperinflation from 2007-2008.Dragoslav was 75 at the time and was brought out of retirement to do this. He was nicknamed Super Gramps by the people. I can write more about him if you are interested. Milosevic got rid of him in 1996 and the inflation will continue, this time with a steady 10-15% a year. This note as with other post hyperinflation issues is rarer than the others and it is a bit difficult to find in Flawless UNC, because it was printed in limited numbers and in circulation for a short time.1994 5 Dinara New designWhen the previous note was issued 1 Dinar = 1 DM. This exchange rate was hard to keep up. Thus the government decreased the value of dinar and issued a new set of notes. Finally someone got the design right. This time Tesla is young, the picture is from his best years.

100 Dinara 2000

After the fall of Milosevic, the new government has redesigned the notes to the current set. This is the best Design in my opinion. This picture is from 1896, Tesla is 40 years old. This is the last set of banknotes to have the name Yugoslavia on them and it is rarer since it was in circulation for only a few years.100 Dinara 2003 today

Country was changed name from Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro switched to use EUR, so the issuing authority was renamed to National Bank of Serbia. This is the only major difference between these notes and the one before.I do not know how many different dates there are, catalog is not covering all of them, since it was printed in 2006. Let me know if you are interested I can send you a link. The only difference is a signature of a governor (in my opinion 90% of them are crooks anyhow).

2006 CoinIn 2006 tesla coin was issued in Serbia. Value is 20 Dinars. This is the only coin with Tesla that was issued in circulation, people are using it for everyday transactions. Tesla had a number of commemorative silver and gold coins before I can try to compile a list latter if you are interested in this.

For the end it is worth mentioning that Teslas contemporary Mihajlo Pupin (he invented Pupin coil that enabled long distance telephony) got only 2 hyperinflation notes, 100 000 from 1994 was unissued and it is rare and the second one is 50 000 000 below. Pupin led a different life than Tesla he was wealthy, had wife and children and his personal friend was American president Woodrow Wilson. He will use this personal influence to help determine the borders of Yugoslavia after WWI.