Flag of Bosnia & Herzegovina, in use since 1998.
Map of present-day Bosnia
History
Slavic people settled in the region around 600 AD, driving the existing Roman population to the coast. Bosniacs speak Serbo-Croatian, and share their ancestry with their neighbours, but the majority have converted to Islam during Ottoman rule as opposed to Catholic Croatians and Orthodox Serbians.
The country's official name is Bosnia & Herzegovina. Herzegovina was a region that briefly stayed independent after the Ottomans conquered Bosnia in 1463. Ruled by a duke, and with the German word for duke being 'Herzog', the name Herzegovina was given. For brevity the country is often referred to as Bosnia. Herzegovina is a historical region that does not follow any ethnical divisions.
Medieval Bosnia
Bosnia was under influence of Byzantine and Serbian Empires and the Kingdom of Croatia, which entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. Though nominally under Hungarian rule, Bosnia was practically an independent state as the Banate of Bosnia from 1154 to 1377 and a kingdom from 1377 until Ottoman conquest in 1463. Bosnia's first king was Tvrtko I.
The Banate and Kingdom of Bosnia (1154-1463)
Ottoman Sanjak of Bosnia (1463-1878)
The Ottomans established the Sanjak of Bosnia, a name that is still used (Sandžak) for a part of Serbia with a Bosniac majority. Many Bosniacs converted to Islam, as opposed to Serbians who kept the Orthodox Christian religion. For Bosniacs the new religion provided ways to achieve high ranks in the Ottoman Empire, but it also caused them to be viewed with increased suspicion by Serbians, leading to controversial attitudes about the Bosniac's national and cultural identity.
Austro-Hungarian occupation (1878-1918)
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8 saw the Austrians invading Bosnia. Though nominally still part of the Ottoman Empire until 1908, it became a Austro-Hungarian condominium. The local population was not happy with the situation, and neighbouring Serbia sought to increase its influence in the region by supporting local nationalists. One of these, Gavril Princip, assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914. This incident formed the spark that led to the First World War. During that war Bosnia remained under Austrian control until 1918, when Serbian troops rapidly advanced north.
Yugoslav Bosnia (1918-1991)
Bosnia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. As its name suggested, Bosniac ethnicity was not recognised. They were regarded as Serbians with a different religion. Only from the 1960's this attitude would change. In 1929 the country was renamed to Yugoslavia.
During World War 2 Bosnia was part of the Independent State of Croatia, run by the ultranationalist Ustaše movement who converted, expelled or killed many non-Croats. Many Partisans fought in the hills of Bosnia, led by Josep Broz Tito. In 1945 they were victorious and founded the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.
Independence and the Bosnian War (1991-1995)
After Slovenia and Croatia had declared independence, multi-ethnic Bosnia did the same. The Croatian War quickly spilled over to Bosnia, where Croats, Bosniacs and Serbs were fighting for every little piece. The large amount of intermarriages made the situation even more tragic, with many families torn apart. The ethnic makeup of Bosnia would drastically change over 4 years of warfare with many cases of ethnic cleansing and other war crimes by all fighting parties.
Bosnia became divided between a Croat-Bosniac alliance and the Republika Srpska, which sought unification with Serbia. With the Serbs becoming more and more isolated internationally, the eventual solution was found in turning Bosnia into a 'state of two states', one for Bosniacs and Croatians, and one for Serbians.
The two states within Bosnia & Herzegovina. The green part (Brčko district) is ruled by both in cooperation with the UN.
Despite the odd situation Bosnia has remained peaceful since 1995. The reconstruction of war damage took many years, but recently tourism is picking up. The country is slowly moving towards EU membership.
Currency and Coins
The Bosnian Kingdom had its own coinage in the 14th century, based on silver Dinars and Groats (Grosh). From the Ottoman conquest in 1463 until independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 other currencies were used.
During the Bosnian War three separate currencies were used: the Bosnian Dinar, the Croatian Dinar and the Republika Srpska Dinar. All were based on the 1990 Yugoslav Dinar, and issued only banknotes as inflation was rampant.
In 1995 the peace deal from the Dayton accords brought the Convertible Mark (Konvertibilni Marka or KM) at par with the Deutschmark. Because Germany replaced the Mark with the Euro in 1999 at a rate of 1.95583 DM/€, this peg also holds for the Bosnian Marka.
Coins were only introduced from 1998, in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 Feninga and 1, 2 and 5 Marka.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/bosnie-herzegovine-1.html