50 Para Serbia Silver Milan I of Serbia

1875, Principality of Serbia, Milan Obrenovic.  Silver 50 Para Coin

Mint Year: 1875 Reference: KM-4. Denomination: 50 Para  Material: Silver (.835) Diameter: 18mm Weight: 2.46gm

Obverse: Bare head of Milan Obrenovic as prince of Serbia left. Translated legend: "Milan M. Obrenovic IV. prince of Serbia"

Reverse: Ducal crown above denomination (50 PARA) and mint date (1875) within wreath.

The House of Obrenovic (Serbian: Obrenovici, often spelled in English as Obrenovich or Obrenovitch) ruled Serbia from 1815 to 1842, and again from 1858 to 1903. They came to power through the leadership of their progenitor Miloš Obrenovic in the Second Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire, which led to the formation of the Principality of Serbia. The regents tended to rule autocratically, their popularity waxing and waning over their decades in power. The house of Obrenovic, except Miloš and Mihailo Obrenovic, descends from the Serbian medieval noble house of Orlovic, through the stepfather of Knjaz Miloš, and the grandfather of King Milan, as he was a member of the cadet branch of house Martinovic – Orlovic. The family’s rule came to an end when an underground movement Black hand throughout the military, killed the last king Aleksandar Obrenovic, proximally because of his unpopular choice of a bride. After the end of their rule, a constitutional monarchy headed by the Karadordevic family took its place. Unlike other Balkan states such as Greece, Bulgaria or Romania, Serbia did not import a member of an existing European royal family to take its throne; the Obrenovic Dynasty, like its Karadordevic rival, was a “home-grown” Serbian family.

Milan Obrenovic (August 22, 1854–February 11, 1901) was a Serbian monarch reigning as Prince Milan IV of Serbia from 1868 to 1882 and King Milan I of Serbia from 1882 to 1889.

Milan Obrenovic IV was born in exile in Manasija (Marasesti, Wallachia) during a period of the Karadordevic rule in Serbia which began in 1842 with the deposition of Milan’s cousin Prince Mihailo Obrenovic. He was the son of Miloš (1829-1861) and Maria Katargi from Moldavia. Milan’s father, Miloš, was the son of Jevrem, the brother of famous Serb Prince, Miloš Obrenovic. Milan was therefore Prince Miloš's grand-nephew. At an early age Milan lost both his parents. He was subsequently adopted by his cousin, Prince Mihailo.

After the expulsion of the House of Karadordevic in 1858, Mihailo Obrenovic returned to Serbia. He became ruling prince of Serbia in 1860, when his father, Miloš, died. During the reign of Mihailo, young Milan was educated at the Lycée Louis le Grand in Paris. There he displayed considerable maturity.

In 1868, when Milan was only fourteen years of age, Prince Mihailo was assassinated. Milan succeeded Mihailo to the throne under a regency. In 1872, Milan was declared of age, and he took government into his own hands. He soon manifested great intellectual power, coupled with a passionate headstrong character. Eugene Schuyler, who saw him about this time, found him a very remarkable, singularly intelligent, and well-informed young man.

Milan carefully balanced the Austrian and Russian parties in Serbia, with a judicious leaning towards Austria-Hungary. At the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878, Prince Milan induced the Porte to acknowledge his independence at the Treaty of Berlin.