20 Tolarjev 1992, Slovenia
| in Krause book | Number: 12a |
| Years of issue: | 28.12.1992 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Guverner: France Arhar, Član Sveta Banke: Velimir Bole |
| Serie: | 1992 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 15.01.1992 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 126 x 63 |
| Printer: | De la Rue currency,Gateshead |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Janez Vajkard Valvasor.
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is made after this self portrait by Janez Vajkard Valvasor, 1689.
Johann Weikhard Freiherr von Valvasor or Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor (Slovene: Janez Vajkard Valvasor) or simply Valvasor (baptised on 28 May 1641 – September or October 1693) was a natural historian and polymath from Carniola, present-day Slovenia, and a fellow of the Royal Society in London.
He is known as a pioneer of study of karst studies. Together with his other writings, until the late 19th century his best known work - the 1689 Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, published in 15 books in four volumes, was the main source for older Slovenian history, making him one of the precursors of modern Slovenian historiography.
Valvasor was born in the town of Ljubljana, then Duchy of Carniola, now the capital of Slovenia. In the XVI century, It was Johann Baptist Valvasor who established the family Valvasor in the Duchy of Carniola in central Europe in a part of Austria that is now the Republic of Slovenia. In medieval Latin "Valvasor" or "Valvasore" held the meaning "the carrier of the feud". In western Europe its use can be traced back to the XI century.
Neither the exact day nor the actual place of Valvasor's birth are known, but his baptism was registered at Ljubljana Cathedral. He was the twelfth child born to Bartholomäus and Anna Maria Freiin von Rauber, who did not only live at their Medija Castle in Izlake but also had a town residence in Ljubljana at Old Square. His godparents were Freiherr (Baron) Konrad Ruess von Ruessenstein from the Strmol Castle and Regina Dorothea Rasp from the Krumperk Castle.
Valvasor's father died when the boy was ten years old. His mother died when he was 16. At the time he was attending the Jesuit school in Ljubljana. Graduating in 1659 at the age of seventeen, he did not choose to continue his studies at a university but decided to broaden his horizons by meeting learned men on a journey across Europe. This journey lasted fourteen years and it even took him to northern Africa. During this period, he joined the army in the Austrian-Turkish War, where he became closely acquainted with the conditions on the Croatian Military Frontier.
Shortly after marrying Anna Rosina Grafenweger in 1672, Valvasor acquired the Bogenšperk Castle near Litija, where he arranged a writing, drawing and printing workshop. Valvasor spent a fortune on the publishing of his books; towards the end of his life, his debts forced him to sell Bogenšperk Castle, his vast library and his collection of prints. In 1690, Aleksandar Ignacije Mikulić, the Bishop of Zagreb, bought his library, along with some 7,300 graphics, and moved it to Slavonia, where the collection became part of the library of the Zagreb Archbishopric, now part of the Croatian State Archives. Valvasor died in September 1693 in Krško. He is believed to have been buried in the family crypt at Medija Castle, but this is uncertain. The Yugoslav Partisans dynamited the castle in 1944 and no trace of his putative grave remains today.
Valvasor's most important work remains The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (original title: Die Ehre deß Herzogthums Crain, Slovene: Slava vojvodine Kranjske), published in 1689 in 15 tomes, totalling 3532 pages and including 528 illustrations and 24 appendices, which provides a vivid description of Carniola at the time. He also recorded the first written document on vampires when he wrote on the legend of a vampire in Istria named Jure Grando.
From 2009 until 2012, it was translated into Slovene by Doris, Primož and Božidar Debenjak. The initiator, project manager, editor and technical editor of this monumental publishing project was Tomaž Čeč.
Valvasor was a pioneer of study of karst phenomena. Upon the proposal of Edmond Halley, who was not only an astronomer but also a geophysicist, and in 1687 his extensive treatise on the hydrology of the intermittent Lake Cerknica won him a Fellowship of the Royal Society.
Works:
Dominicae passionis icones, 1679, reprint 1970
Topographia Ducatus Carnioliae modernae das ist Controfee aller Stätt, Märckht, Clöster und Schlösser, wie sie anietzo stehen in dem Herzogthumb Crain, 1679, reprint 1970
Topographia arcium Lambergianarum id est arces, castella et dominia in Carniolia habita possident comites a Lamberg; Bagenspergi (Bogenšperg), 1679 COBISS 75121664, reprint 1995
Topographia Archiducatus Carinthiae modernae: das ist Controfee aller Stätt, Märckht, Clöster, undt Schlösser, wie sie anietzo stehen in dem Ertzhertzogthumb Khärnten; Wagensperg in Crain (Bogenšperg), 1681 COBISS 87695872; Nürnberg, 1688
Carniolia, Karstia, Histria et Windorum Marchia, Labaci (Ljubljana) 1681
Theatrum mortis humanae tripartitum: figuris aeneis illustratum : das ist: Schau-Bühne des menschlichen Todts in drey Theil : mit schönen Kupffer-Stichen geziehrt vnd an Tag gegeben; Laybach, Saltzburg (Ljubljana, Salzburg); 1682
Topographia Archiducatus Carinthiae antiquae & modernae completa: Das ist Vollkommene und gründliche Land – Beschreibung des berühmten Erz – Herzogthums Kärndten; Nürnberg 1688
Opus insignium armorumque ... ;(1687–1688)
Illustration from critique of first volume of Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain published in Acta Eruditorum, 1689
Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain: das ist, Wahre, gründliche, und recht eigendliche Belegen- und Beschaffenheit dieses Römisch-Keyserlichen herrlichen Erblandes; Laybach (Ljubljana) 1689 
The profile silhouette filled up with micro writing completes the image. In the left hand area of the banknote the motif of a geodetic pair of compasses is printed by the intaglio method.
Denominations in numerals are at the bottom and in top right corner. In words - centered.
Revers:
Main image - The final vignette of two angels from J. V. Valvasor´s book The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, 1689.
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (German: Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain, Slovene: Slava vojvodine Kranjske) is an encyclopedia published in Nuremberg in 1689 by the polymath Johann Weikhard von Valvasor. It is the most important work on his homeland, the Duchy of Carniola, the present-day central part of Slovenia.
Written in New High German, the anthology was published in four volumes, subdivided into 15 books with 3,552 large-format pages and 24 annexes. It was lavishly illustrated with 528 copperplate engravings. The work refers to history, geography, topography, medicine, biology, geology, theology, customs and folklore of the Carniolan region that makes up a large part of present-day Slovenia. Valvasor could rely on older accounts, nevertheless the meticulously researched and scientifically sound collection was pioneering at that time. From 2009 until 2012, it was translated into Slovene by Doris, Primož and Božidar Debenjak. The initiator, project manager, editor and technical editor of this publishing project was Tomaž Čeč.
Valvasor was the first to write about the olm. He intended to write a kind of travelogue than a dictionary and therefore the entries are not arranged in alphabetical order. The author also sprinkles anecdotes, fairytales and poems to diversify the composition. Concerned that outsiders did not know his region well enough, he undertook the presentation of Carniola in words and pictures, installing a copperplate workshop at his Bogenšperk Castle near Litija and publishing collections of his work.
On the left is a motto, which is on the vignette with angels: "Dulcis ex labore fructus".
In English: "Sweetness is the fruit of work." Literary translation: "Out of Hard Work Comes Wisdom."
Denominations in numerals are at the bottom and in top right corner. In words - centered.
Comments:
Designer: Miljenko Licul and coauthors.
Painter of the portrait: Rudi Španzel.
The banknote printed on paper, made in Slovenian city Radeče.
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