Today let's take a quick look at another coin from my son's collection. This is a Peru 5 Centavos coin from 1967. It's minted of brass (an alloy of copper & zinc) and is quite small.
Starting with the above reverse of the coin, it has the value next to a couple of Cinchona tree flower. There are 23 species of cinchona trees, all native to the Andes in South America. The bark of some of the species produces quinine and was, for about 300 years, the only effective remedy for malaria.
The obverse features the coat of arms of Peru with a palm branch on the left, laurel on the right, and a Holm Oak civic crown on top.
The shield has a vicuña on the left, a cinchona tree on the left and a cornucopia with coins spilling out on the bottom.
This coin is tiny, as you can see above. It is in a standard US dime holder. The diameter of this coin is 14.4 mm! That's over 3 mm smaller in diameter than a US dime.
This has to be one of the smallest coins there is. Of the 14 million minted, I'd guess half are still lost in couch cushions and under the fridge xD
