The Central Bank of Croatia, a country hoping to adopt the single European currency next year, launched a new tender on Tuesday to select the design to be depicted on the 1 euro coin, following the scandal that erupted when its winner previously charged with copying.
Croatia has been a member of the EU since 2013 and hopes to switch from the kuna, its national currency, to the euro in January 2023.
Last week, the Central Bank (HNB) selected and presented the designs to be depicted on euro coins. Among them was a sketch by Stepan Prankovic depicting a ferret on a branch. For his work, Prankovic would receive a prize of 9,300 euros.
The Croatian kuna has as a symbol the ferret, the small mammal whose fur served during the Middle Ages as a “currency” in the exchange economy of the time.
But users of social networking sites and many Croatian media outlets soon realized the similarities between the design and a photo taken by Scot Ian H. Leitz, a nature and bird photographer. His own photo shows a ferret on a branch, in the same position as Prankovic.
Let te Designer’s Designer’s Croatian Euro-Münze entwurf last week. There was a copy of Marder (Kuna) from a photo copied from the Internet. Photo @ 24sata_HR pic.twitter.com/YAXAXuIMRQ
– Marijan Vrdoljak (@mvrdoljak) February 7, 2022
The Croatian artist reacted on Monday, withdrawing the sketch and relinquishing his award. He even spoke of “an unpleasant atmosphere created by the media and social networking sites.”
HNB accepted his decision and started a new tender, after the previous one was described as a “fiasco” by the media. All participants “are kindly requested to guarantee that (…) their work is an original creation,” the Central Bank said.
The Scottish photographer welcomed Prankovic’s decision. “I do not intend to sue anyone. “A right decision was made and for me this means that the case is closed,” he told Nova TV.
The other euro coins will depict the map of Croatia, the scientist Nikola Tesla and motifs of the Glagolitic script, the oldest Slavic alphabet.
Of the 27 EU countries, 19 now use the euro. Six out of ten Croats are in favor of adopting the euro, despite fears of rising inflation.
See all the news
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
