The designer of the controversial €1 coin which was one of the winning proposals for the future Croatian-minted euro coins, Stjepan Pranjkovic, decided to withdraw his proposal after days of media furor as the coin in question, depicting a marten - a type of weasel-like animal that Croatia's current currency is named after - bears an uncanny resemblance to an image taken by a Nottingham-based wildlife photographer Ian H. Leach.

Immediately after the central bank HNB presented the winning designs in a news conference on Friday, some local media outlets noticed the similarities and began mocking the design as well as the entire selection process, implying that Croatia’s future coin might be a case of copyright infringement.

Days later, screenshots of Pranjkovic’s messages on Facebook in graphic editing groups in which he asked for assistance in processing a photo of the marten also surfaced.

Croatia had organized a complicated process for its future currency. First, the public were asked to vote on the general motifs that the future coins would have. After the government had disclosed which motifs had won, another contest was made where designers were asked to submit individual designs for all eight coins that Croatia hopes to begin minting ahead of its adoption of the euro, which is tentatively scheduled for some time in 2023.

Pranjkovic – a professional artist based in Rijeka largely unknown to thew wider public – won first place for his €1 design, which carried an award of 70,000 kuna (€9,300). Index.hr news website also reported that he won two second-place awards, each worth 35,000 kuna (€4,650), meaning he won a total of 140,000 kuna (€18,600) for his three best-ranked designs.

The central bank tried to avoid taking any responsibility for this, claiming that the contest propositions required every applicant to sign a statement saying they own the work in question. Mr. Leach told local media in a statement that he was never contacted about permission to use his image commercially. The national association of designers also chimed in, slamming  the entire selection process.

Pranjkovic, who was unavailable to the media over the past few days, sent an email to the central bank on Monday, saying that he had decided to withdraw his proposal, without confirming or denying that his design did indeed feature a stolen image, “in order not to complicate the situation any further by possible uncertainties surrounding the matter.”

“I have had no intention to hurt anyone’s feelings and therefore I apologize to everyone, particularly to the Croatian National Bank (HNB), the Croatian government, and the Croatian public,” Pranjkovic said in his letter, without mentioning Mr. Leach.

The central bank said on Sunday that they would “check the allegations about possible copyright infringement,” and on Monday its currency commission is expected to hold a meeting “to discuss the latest developments,” state agency Hina said.