The 12th of March 1994 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the decision of the Slovene National Liberation Council to establish, at Crnomelj, the Monetary Institute of Slovenia. The foundation of a banking institution in a country which was at the time occupied by a foreign power was a unique historical event, and also marked the beginnings of financial business for the Slovene nation, living now in an independent and sovereign state. Through the foundation of the Monetary Institute of Slovenia two of the basic rights of all nations were realised, namely the rights to sovereignty and to enable its citizens to enjoy the fruits of their labour. It was a courageous deed to set up the Slovene Monetary Institute in a Europe which was under axis domination and it both laid the foundation of the Slovene monetary system and set the pattern for the post-war economic development of Slovenia. Between its establishment and the end of the war the Monetary Institute of Slovenia fully justified its existence. Its purposes were to arrange for three issues of Lira payment notes and receipts, which served as an extra means of payment, to introduce some form of finance for the economy and to enable saving activity. Moreover, it should be noted that the various wartime means of payment adopted in Slovenia were not valueless paper, for the Slovene authorities fulfilled, in the framework of the now current financial system, their promise that these instruments would be redeemed within three months after the liberation against the currency then in use. Accessed at: https://www.bsi.si/en/banknotes-and-coins/slovenian-tolar/commemorative-editions-republic-of-slovenia/50-years-anniversary-of-the-founding-of-the-monetary-institute-of-slovenia-1994