Slovenian tolar

The tolar is the currency of Slovenia. It is divided into 100 stotinov. The ISO 4217 currency code for the Slovenian tolar is SIT. The name tolar comes from Thaler, and is cognate with dollar.

History

The tolar was introduced on 8 October 1991. It replaced the 1990 version of Yugoslav dinar at par. On 28 June 2004 the tolar was pegged against the euro in the ERM II ^*, the EU's exchange rate mechanism. The first banknotes were provisional payment notes issued on 8 October 1991 and had a bee on the obverse and Triglav, the tallest mountain in Slovenia, on the reverse, these notes ceased to be issued when the current banknotes were released in 1992. All recalled banknotes can be exchanged at the central bank for current issue.

Future

On January 1, 2007, the tolar is to be replaced with the euro; Slovenia will issue its own euro coins, like all other nations in the Eurozone.

The timescales for conversion from the tolar to the euro will operate differently from the first wave of EMU. The permanent EUR/SIT conversion rate was fixed on July 11, 2006 at 239.640 SIT per EUR. During the first wave of EMU, this period was only a day (the conversion rates were fixed on 31 December 1998 and EUR non-cash payments were possible from 1 January 1999). Also unlike the first wave of EMU which had a three year transition period (1999-2001), there will be no transition period when non-cash payments can be made in both SIT and EUR. SIT will continue to be used for all transactions (cash and non-cash) until 31 December 2006 and EUR must be used for all payments (cash and non-cash) from 1 January 2007. However, as with the first wave of EMU, cash payments in SIT may continue until 14 January 2007, but change must be given in EUR.

Coins

The following coins are minted ^*. Typical animals are represented on the obverse side.

10 stotinov - olm (Proteus anguinus)
20 stotinov - long-eared owl (Asio otus)
50 stotinov - western honeybee (Apis mellifera)
1 tolar - brown trout (Salmo trutta fario)
2 tolarja - barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)
5 tolarjev - steinbock (Capra ibex)
10 tolarjev - horse (Equus)
20 tolarjev - white stork (Ciconia ciconia)
50 tolarjev - bull (Taurus taurus)

Banknotes

The following banknotes are printed ^*. All of them feature important Slovenians.

10 tolarjev - Primož Trubar, author of the first book in the Slovenian language
20 tolarjev - Janez Vajkard Valvasor, polyhistor
50 tolarjev - Jurij Vega, mathematician
100 tolarjev - Rihard Jakopič, Impressionist painter
200 tolarjev - Jacobus Gallus, Renaissance composer
500 tolarjev - Jože Plečnik, architect
1,000 tolarjev - France Prešeren, poet
5,000 tolarjev - Ivana Kobilca, artist
10,000 tolarjev - Ivan Cankar, writer and dramatist

Historical exchange rates

Lower number indicates the tolar has a higher value.

SIT per USD – 193.0 (April 2006); 198.0 (June 2005); 201.3 (November 2003); 195.06 (January 2000); 181.77 (1999); 166.13 (1998); 159.69 (1997); 135.36 (1996); 118.52 (1995).
SIT per EUR – 233.0 (April 2006); 239.5 (June 2005); 235.7 (November 2003); 227.3 (June 2002).

External links

Circulating currencies | Currencies of Europe | Economy of Slovenia