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Do you know this man? (Answer is in the picture properties)
I had an odd revelation this week. At work I asked a friend to loan me a “Gallus” — the man who appears on the 200 tolar banknote. My friend looked at me blankly, clearly having no idea what bill Gallus was on and wondering why the hell I did. We talked a bit, and when I discovered that he couldn’t name any of them (except Frank) I chastised him and suggested he surrender his passport and citizenship.
He defended himself by saying that no Slovene knows what’s on the 15-year-old, soon-to-be-extinct tolar. I countered that this was absolutely, totally and 100% impossible. I’ve only been here a few years and know all of them — surely natives would know most, or some, of them. (After all, the pantheon of Slovenian heroes isn’t exactly titanic.)
So we broke out the science and tested two dozen people — turns out not a single one of them had any idea. I couldn’t believe it. Out of our sample group, zero percent could correctly name anyone on a bill under 1000.
In case this was a freakish fluke, let me ask you all: There are 9 banknotes — how many can you name (without looking)? Be honest! Science is counting on you!
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50 tolars - Jurij Vega
100 tolars - Rihard Jakopic
500 tolars - Joze Plecnik
1000 tolars - France Presern
5000 tolars - Ivana Kobilca
10000 tolars - Ivan Cankar
I honestly wouldn’t be able to tell the other three on my own right now. It’s a damn shame of course, but everyone is always laughing their ass off about stupid Americans. Pot, kettle…
lol, i knew all except the 20 tolar one. Of the coins, i don’t remember what’s on the 1 tolar one, but i do all of the others, even 10, 20, 50 cents! ;p
I couldn’t come up with answers for 50, 100, or 10,000 (this last one I virtually never deal with, though). Note that I’m also a tujec, and have also been known to hit people up for a “Valvasor” for the coffee machine, only to encounter puzzlement and rage. I think the discrepancy you mention is due to the Circle Line Effect, which states that out-of-towners are likely to know more about historical and cultural trivia than locals. What New Yorker can tell you who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?
Trubar, Valvasor, Vega, Jakopic, Gallus, Plecnik, Preseren, Kobilica, Cankar…
Funny thing is that I was told of the same experience more then ten years ago. A native speaker whom my mother recruited to better my English told me, that he always asked his pupils, who were the people depicted on Slovene banknotes and most pupils didn’t know… Funny.
But then again: maybe this is the final proof of ignorant youth I ranted about couple of days ago.
BTW Michael: Who’s depicted on 20, 50 and 100 dollar bills?
Well, most people know the best the banknote they are using the most… I, for example, am the most familiar with Cankar…
(hehe - sanjala svinja kukuruz)
Well, regarding US dollars… I remember for sure, that there is George Washington on one dollar bill.. Don’t even ask me whats on the frontside of EURO bills… Its dull as EU bureaucracy and grey Brussels weather…
I know all of them (ok, I remember a name or two when I see the picture)… enough to prove your friend wrong.
And I’m 18, which is enough to prove your remark about ignorat youth wrong too, pengovsky. 
This is weird, however. I wouldn’t have guessed so many people had no idea.
Franklin on the 100, Grant on the 50 and (as anyone who grew up in New Orleans knows) Jackson on the 20.
However, I actually got the 10-dollar bill wrong. I thought it was Madison, but it’s Hamilton. (Oh, bittersweet irony!)
@Wing: Well, then there’s hope still
Or to put it in the immortal words ob Bill Clinton: “I still believe in a town called Hope!” 
@Michael M.: There you go…
@Micheale M. : I wonder if Bush will someday “advance” to dollar bills… :)Maybe they will reintroduce again 1000US$ bill with him…
Matty: Well, he already made it on the $200. (Although so far it’s only been valid in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina)
I think that we don’t have the habit of calling money by what is on it lik ein american detective or crime B-movies. Give me a Franklin and so on… Or maybe not? Maybe we do it, but only above Preseren.
@Michael: Check out the movie “The Weatherman” and remember the old’s man advice! You are old enough, you should carry more than a dolar (in your case more than 200SIT) :-P!
Hahaha, good one!
Oh I’m so ashamed of myself… I’d have known only about the 10 and the 1000 tolar note. About Trubar I found out in Tübingen (a German student of Slovenian told me: “What?! You don’t know it? It’s Trubar.”) and with PreÅ¡eren I used to pay my LaÅ¡ko…
@mAT: I agree with you on calling banknotes by names from Preseren upwards, but there’s even a more funny phenomenon… Call it the “jurja” phenomenon. Do you remember the old yugoslav banknote for 10 dinars… When I was a kid we called it “10 jurjev” - apparently it was worth 10.000 dinars before denomination (one of many). And now, PreÅ¡eren is also reffered to as “jurja”, i.e.: 1000 SIT. Where the hell does “jurja” come from?
Pengovsky,
I asked Wikipedia and it says it comes from… St. Jurij (St. George, isn’t it?) on a 1000 note in Yugoslavia: Po sv. Juriju, ki je v Ä?asu Kraljevine Jugoslavije bil upodobljen na bankovcu za 1000 dinarjev, je izÅ¡la beseda »jur«, ki v pogovorni slovenÅ¡Ä?ini Å¡e danes oznaÄ?uje tisoÄ?aka v katerikoli valuti.
Michael– you skipped one: Jefferson on the vastly under-utilized two-dollar bill.
I remember the first time I saw a 2-dollar bill as a kid; it was like a miracle. I think I still have one somewhere in my basement.
alcessa: Thanks for answering that — I wonder which euro will inherit the title?
Michael, I didn’t translate all of it, but the Wikipedia-text explains that, too: … the word “jur”, that in modern colloquial Slovenian denotes any 1000-note of any currency.
Currency!?
Even here in the States, currency is oh so…Old Europe!
I know the two main monetary exchanges.
Visa.
Mastercard.
And I’ll throw in Discover fo those of us who like to get insulted every once in a while by a Komandante Kashier.
Boy, do I love Quizzzs…
10- Primož Trubar
20- Janez Vajkart Valvasor
50- Jurij Vega
100- Rihard JakopiÄ?
200- Jacobus Gallus Carniolus
500- Master Jože PleÄ?nik
1000- France Prešeren
5000- Ivana Kobilca
10.000- Ivan Cankar
Ah, I already know I’ll be missing the good old tolars.
Nothing to do with money, well except for the Act of Spending It, but here’s an ESPN link to an article about the quest of Slovenia’s reclusive marble trout.
The Reclusive Marble Trout.
A candidate for one of the new Euro bills?
Ending line of the ESPN article: “Yes, we did travel a long way to fish for marble trout, but the trip was a success and filled with memories of a beautiful countryside, friendly people and a conservation program that will insure the survival of this very unique trout.“
Well yes, what is money without pictures on it, anyway.
Though I do like my plastik fantastik, it is a rather nice feeling to pull something papery out of the pocket or to jingle one’s coins…
Hmmmm DarkoV!
I am really sorry to tell you this: euro notes are the same in every country. The only difference are the coins. Mike has already posted some preview of ‘em a while ago.
@alcessa: Great, thanks for clearing that up for me
That was easy! Especially concerning that the question was asked on the The Glory of Carniola.
sure i know them all. you should’ve asked me
(or any that knows them; surprised you didn’t find any)
[offtopic]in one of previous articles there was conversation about rare tolars.. i really search for a 10 stotinov coin (the only one missing in my tolar collection; i decided to save them)
cloud name them all.well at least all the surenames…..
sure will miss tolar when it’s gone.
bober: that’s a tough call. They are practically out of use (but you knew that
). Maybe you should go to an exchange office, ask there. After the initial few months when shops also had those, exchange offices are the only places where I ever got them. Or ask at a bank. And you ain’t got much time left, either. 
Regarding the notes: yeah, I could name them all. I was a bit surprised at the time it took me - nothing spectacularly blockheaded, but it did take some time for me to come up with all of them.
Alcessa: I don’t think that 1000 EUR notes will be so “popular” in Slovenia, that you’ll be able to hear often: Posodi mi jurja… By the way, I know a great band with that name.
I’m surprised nobody said this before… Who cares about faces and names on banknotes?!?
All about the benjamins and franklins with you guys huh?
Cija: are you sure? I mean: they do look good…
I know the band, too..
@cija: are you sure they exist..?
But i agree with alcessa… if only… (i had a few… hehe).
By the way, probably the most strange denominaton existed in Cuba… ! And that is probably one of the most searched for banknotes for collectors, as it includes Che Guevara…
Love to see such a fine image of Che Guevarra y O’Loinsigh!
Michael, i must say that you are surrounded by a bunch of ignorant morons, whose knowledge is limited by the content of TV commercials and the garbage they see in shoping centres. Get yourself out of there ASAP!
Not to mention that the 50 tolar bill, featuring Jurij Vega is probably the best looking piece of money in existence. Man, this pissed me off.
Why would an exchange office have a 0,10-SIT coin?
@Bober: you can get it in an overpriced set of uncirculated coins issued by the Bank of Slovenia: look here (left column)
(I’m not sure I want to give away some of my 0,10-SIT coins).
10- Primož Trubar
20 - Janez Vajkard Valvasor
50 - Jurij Vega
100 - Rihard JakopiÄ?
200 - Jakob Petelin Gallus
500 - Jože PleÄ?nik
1000 - France Prešeren
5000 - Ivana Kobilca
10000 - Ivan Cankar
wow, I would be EMBARRASSED if I wouldn’t know their names. After all, these are the men (and a woman) who helped build our identity and people who should make us proud. I feel sort of sorry for those who don’t know who they are.