Croatia Mints the World’s Smallest Coin

Swissmint just got its Guinness World Record entry as the manufacturer of the world’s smallest coin – and is already about to lose their title. The Croatian Mint shows off its skill by undercutting the Swiss record: with a weight of 0.05g and a diameter of 1.99mm, a Croatian issue is now the world’s smallest coin. The theme of the issue is more than fitting: the piece is dedicated to the world’s smallest city called Hum. It has a face value of one kuna.

The new record coin is both lighter and of a smaller diameter than the 2020 1/4 Swiss franc on Albert Einstein with a weight of 0.063g and a diameter of 2.96mm. The 1-kuna Hum coin also undercuts the Swiss mintage figure of 999 specimens. Only 199 pieces will be issued of the new “smallest” coin, which will exclusively be offered in a set with the 1000-kuna coin on the Višnjan Observatory.

The world’s new smallest coin has a wonderful topic: the world’s smallest city. This city is called Hum, Colmo in Italian and Cholm in German. It is located on a hilltop in Istria. Its population consists of about two dozen inhabitants.

Despite its small population, Hum has the right to call itself a city, because it has everything that made for a city in the past: a city wall, a self-elected government, and its own laws.

Hum’s history dates back to the 11th century A.D., when Count Ulric I, Margrave of Carniola and Istria, fortified the southern border of his territory with small castles. One of them was called Cholm. In 1102, it came under the control of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. The latter lost all its territories, including Hum, during the Venetian conquest in 1420. Hum then belonged to the Venetian maritime empire until it was dissolved by Napoleon in 1797. The 1815 Congress of Vienna put Istria, and with it Hum, under Austrian rule for one century. Then it became part of Italy, Yugoslavia and today Croatia – an eventful history for such a small city.

Today, Hum and its completely preserved city walls are a favourite tourist destination. They love to stroll through the two streets and visit all the historical buildings that tell the rich history of the world’s smallest city.

The obverse depicts the world’s smallest city Hum from a bird’s eye view, above HUM 2022, below NAJMANJI GRAD NA SVIJETU (= the world’s smallest city).

The coin’s reverse shows the head of an Istrian cattle with the long horns that are typical of this species. Above 1 KUNA and the Croatian coat of arms, below the word Hum in Glagolitic script. The coin design was created by Ana Divković.

The coin is only available in a set. The packaging was created by the Croatian design studio Izvorka Jurić. The gold coin is in a box that uses LED lights to recreate a night sky on which the coins shine. The box contains magnifying glass, which is much needed to properly admire the world’s smallest coin. Since Dec. 5, 2022, the coin can be purchased from the shop of the Croatian Mint at croatianmint.hr/en/trgovina/. The price for the set is 22,906.93 kuna / 3,040.27 euros