Money Talks - Political Communication via Currency Imagery

“I want the Queen's head on the banknotes”

As artifacts of culture, currency notes signify more than merely tokens of payment. Their designs convey prestige and authority; along with communicating information and propaganda. The most recurring theme is heads of state and political heroes; thereby making currency imagery one of the most blatant and widely advertised confluences of politics, power and culture. 

Money, both ancient and modern, has found its roots in political ideologies from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the post-colonial modern world. The latest entrant in the world of money, the euro, has also attracted much thought and debate between the linkage of politics, culture and social interaction, which primarily charmed only economic authors.

Slovenia, the latest member of the euro-zone has had significant monetary history; breaking-off from socialist Yugoslavia, instituting the Republic of Slovenia and now being a part of the European Union; Slovenian currency and its imagery have undergone radical transformations influenced by the changing political regimes & ideologies. 

Using semiotics from the visual communications literature, this paper argues that money is not merely a medium of exchange but also a medium of communication, by researching the imagery on the Slovenian currency notes and coins, a flamboyant example of political influence on popular culture.