2020-02-27 Thu

The Republic of Estonia did not have its own currency in 1918. As World War I was ongoing, there were several banknotes of foreign states in circulation in Estonia. When Estonia declared Independence 10 million Finnish marks were borrowed from Finland.

The first official legal tender during independence was the payment notes from the Clearing House of Tallinn, which was introduced as currency a couple of weeks before the short-term treasury bills of the Republic of Estonia bearing a 5% interest rate.

The cheques used in settlements between companies were initially forms printed in German and Estonian, with the amount written on them by hand. The treasury bills, which were initially intended as a domestic loan of the state, were printed in Finland in 1919.

The Provisional Government declared the treasury bills national legal tender on 16 January 1919. The treasury bills became invalid on 1 January 1922. A new currency – the kroon, equal to 100 marks – was established. Kroons were first introduced in 1924 in foreign trade and on 1 January 1928 in daily transactions.

Image Courtesy: colnect