Ever wondered how "big" the smallest coin ever minted is?
Well, I hadn't but thanks to Reddit I now know. It's small. Really, really small! And it's made of gold too!
It was issued in 2022, in commemoration of the Croatian town of Hum, by the Croatian National Bank and minted by the Croatian Mint.
Suitably, the town of Hum is considered to be one of the smallest, if not the smallest, town in the world, with a population of just...30 peeps according to a 2021 census.
How Big Is It?
The diameter of the gold coin is just 1.99 millimetres and it weighs only 0.05 grams with a denomination of 1 kuna. Here's a photo in case you wonder how that looks like in real life:
Reminded of a selfie @bitcoinman once send me, wink wink.
And here's how it looks like if you zoom in...I mean the coin, not @bitcoinman
The obverse features the Croatian coat of arms and the autochthonous Istrian cattle - Boškarin
Boškarin or Istrian cattle is a breed of dairy cattle originating from Istria (northwestern Croatia and southwestern Slovenia). The breed had almost completely disappeared, but thanks to the establishment of the Federation of Istrian Cattle Breeders it was saved, and today has a population of 350 cows and 8 bulls. Today the saved cattle are farmed for gourmet purposes in Istria, where the boškarin is hailed as a true gourmet delicacy. source
As for the reverse, it depicts the settlement of Hum in the central part.
The coin was sold as a part of commemorative gold coin set (with two coins) called the ”Hum and the Višnjan Observatory” with a mintage of just 199.
The other coin has a denomination of 1000 Kuna and a weight of 31.1 g.
1000 Kuna gold coin, source
Ok, hope you enjoyed reading and learning about yet another monetary oddity with me!
This one probably one I will never be adding to my collection due to being a bit pricey... 😄
Here's a video with the whole back story and more info on the coin:
Fun Silver Posts
Enjoyed the post? Here is some more fun silver/numismatics themed content I have written in the past I think you will enjoy:
- The country that uses plastic coins!
- The bizarre coins of Cook Islands
- Infographic: What Type of Silver Whale are you?
- My silver pocket piece
- My favorite piece from the stack
- The 10 Million Dollar Coin
- This is where gold really comes from!
- That's one big nugget!
- The Ten Thousand Dollar Bill ?!?!
- Biggest Gold Coin Ever
- A coin made of cardboard
- The microorganism that poops gold!