List of current and historical currency of Croatia.
This is a description of the current and historical currencies of Croatia, or historically used in the region. The currency of Croatia is the euro, in use since 2023.
The history of currency in the now Croatian territory dates to much earlier than the adoption of the modern kuna in 1994,[1] and almost a thousand years of history which has seen the rise and fall of many different empires and kingdoms.[2]
Croats did not begin to create their own coins for currency until late in the 12th century (1100–1200). Previously, they minted replicas of Byzantine coins of emperor Heraclius.[2] Byzantine coinage was adopted by Byzantine Empire in the 4th century (300–400) and was the currency standard for the empire for about 700 years.[3]
Middle Ages
The use of marten pelts, fox pelts and silk as means of paying tribute have been recorded in Dalmatian city-states in a 1018 document in the Republic of Venice.[4] An Arabic travel writer Abu Hamid al-Gharnati recorded in 1154 that a "land of Slavs" near the Danube used actual marten pelts embroidered with royal markings as currency, but did not specify the exact extent of the territory; because he also separately described travels in Hungary proper, it is assumed today that he meant the areas known as Slavonia at the time, a southern part of the Kingdom of Hungary.[5] The earliest record of the term marturina is dated to the end of the 12th century.[4]
In the age of the Arpad dynasty, the Kingdom of Hungary started to mint silver coins called denar, including ones for the Kingdom of Slavonia.[6]Andrew II of Hungary, at a time when he was the ruler of Slavonia (contemporary name for what is now most of continental Croatia), minted what is known as the first Croatian frizatik between 1196 and 1204.[6] After 1205, the King would delegate the minting to the Ban of Croatia.[6] This money was named after the ban – the banovac (denarius banalis). The symbols found on these coins included a running marten, a star and crescent to symbolize Croatia, and a two-barred cross to symbolize Hungary.[7] The first recorded mint was located in Pakrac between 1256 and 1260, when it was moved to Zagreb where it would operate until 1384.[7] King Louis I the Great was the first who forbade the minting of the banovac in 1364, preferring the royal currency insteady.[7] The rulers from the Capetian House of Anjou such as Charles I Robert had started changing this policy as early as 1323.[7]
At the same time, in the mid-13th century the commune of Šibenik minted a silver coin called bagatin, and later under the Republic of Venice copper coins were minted for Split, Zadar, Hvar and Trogir.[7]
At the start of the 15th century (1400–1500), coastal Croatia came under increasing attack by the Ottoman Empire, which wanted to take control of it from the Republic of Venice. Venice succeeded in maintaining control over the current Croatian territory except for the city-state of Dubrovnik, which became independent during this time,[8] and minted and refined their own coinage over the span of five years. This Republic of Dubrovnik coinage was called the artiluc. During this five-year span, other Croatian coastal towns, Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir, Split and Hvar also minted their own similar coinage.[1] Venetian currency such as the Venetian lira and the Venetian ducat were used in Venetian possessions in Dalmatia.
Early modern period through the Age of Revolutions
Printed money was introduced into the Croatian territory in 1778 in the city of Pag. This new currency was referred to as assignats, which were also being introduced into France at the same time. Previously the city of Pag had relied on salt to pay officers, clerks and doctors. To convert salt to assignats, the salt amount was converted to a lira equivalent, which was noted on the assignats by including sum and issue date information.[1]
In the Austrian Empire, in 1848 Josip Jelačić was appointed Ban of Croatia, and he issued a combination of coins and banknotes during his time as ruler. For smaller-scale transactions, coins called križar and forint (minted in Zagreb) were utilized. Križar were minted from copper and forint from silver. For larger transactions of enterprises, communalities, and trading houses, banknotes backed by guarantees were issued instead.[1]
From 1941–1945 during World War II in Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia officially adopted the Kuna as the currency for the first time on 26 July 1941. The Independent State of Croatia kuna at the time of adoption included banknotes of 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000. Banknotes of 1, 2, were later introduced in 1942, and 5,000 banknotes were added in 1943.[10] The Kuna started with a fixed exchange rate of 20.00 Kn (Kuna) = 1 RM (Reichsmark), the currency for Germany at the time.[11] By 6 May 1945, the exchange rate between the Kuna and Reichsmark was fixed at 120.00 Kn (Kuna) = 1 RM (Reichsmark)[10]
From 30 June to 9 July 1945, the Kuna was removed from the currency circulation and replaced by the 1944 issue of the Yugoslav Dinar. At the time of reissue, the Yugoslav Dinar had a fixed exchange rate of 40 Kn (Kuna) = 1 dinar[11]
Since independence
In 1991, Croatia officially declared its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and became a separate country.[12]
After independence, a period of transition began to the Croatian dinar.
A few years later, the Croatian National Bank moved to a new currency, the Croatian kuna. The name was chosen as the name of the currency to represent the fiscal history of Croatia.[13] One kuna was equivalent to 1000 dinars. The modern kuna became the official currency of Croatia on 30 May 1994.[12] Coins were in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 lipa. The banknotes were in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 kuna.[14]
Core inflation rate of Croatian kuna averaged at 1.482 percent from January 2001 until October 2022.[16]
In the process of accession of Croatia to the European Union, the government decided to eventually replace the kuna with the euro (€, EUR). Following the entry into the ERM II regime in 2020, a fixed conversion rate was set at 1 € = 7.53450 kn in 2022, which was the final year for the kuna as Croatia replaced it with the euro on 1 January 2023. All Croatian bank accounts and credit cards were automatically converted to euros. State-owned finance agency Fina, Hrvatska pošta and all banks in Croatia will be exchanging kuna coins and notes to euro at no charge for 12 months since the introduction of euro, and Croatian National Bank will do the same for coins until the end of 2025 and notes indefinitely.[17][18]
The mark was a currency or unit of account in many states. It is named for the mark unit of weight. The word mark comes from a merging of three Germanic words, Latinised in 9th-century post-classical Latin as marca, marcha, marha or marcus. It was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout Europe and often equivalent to 8 troy ounces (250 g). Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages.
The franc, also commonly distinguished as the French franc (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It was reintroduced in 1795. After two centuries of inflation, it was redenominated in 1960, with each new franc (NF) being worth 100 old francs. The NF designation was continued for a few years before the currency returned to being simply the franc. Many French residents, though, continued to quote prices of especially expensive items in terms of the old franc, up to and even after the introduction of the euro in 2002. The French franc was a commonly held international reserve currency of reference in the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 1998 and 2002, the conversion of francs to euros was carried out at a rate of 6.55957 francs to 1 euro.
The dinar is the currency of Serbia. The dinar was first used in Serbia in medieval times, its earliest use dating back to 1214. The dinar was reintroduced as the official Serbian currency by Prince Mihailo Obrenović in the 19th century. One dinar was formerly subdivided into 100 para.
The kuna was the currency of Croatia from 30 May 1994 until 31 December 2022. It was replaced by the euro in 2023. The kuna was subdivided into 100 lipa. It was issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins were minted by the Croatian Mint.
The krone was the official currency of Austria-Hungary from 1892 until the dissolution of the empire in 1918. The subunit was one hundredth of the main unit, and was called a Heller in the Austrian and a fillér in the Hungarian part of the Empire.
The dinar was the currency of Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1920 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was replaced by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The dinar was subdivided into 100 para.
The dinar was the currency of Croatia between 23 December 1991 and 30 May 1994. The ISO 4217 code was HRD.
The Krajina dinar was the currency of the Republic of Serbian Krajina between 1992 and 1994.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina dinar was the independent currency of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1998.
The Austro-Hungarian gulden was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892, when it was replaced by the Austro-Hungarian krone as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the gulden was initially divided into 60 kreuzers. The currency was decimalized in 1857, using the same names for the unit and subunit.
The krone was a short-lived, provisional currency used in parts of the then newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, parts of which had previously been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Austria-Hungary). It was worth 1⁄4 of a dinar or 25 para. The name translates into English as crown.
Montenegro is a country in South-Eastern Europe, which is neither a member of the European Union (EU) nor the Eurozone; it does not have a formal monetary agreement with the EU either. However, it is one of the two territories that has unilaterally adopted the euro in 2002 as its de facto domestic currency. This means that even though the euro is not a legal tender there, it is treated as such by the government and the population.
The kuna was the currency of the Independent State of Croatia in the period between 1941 and 1945 during World War II. The word kuna means "marten" in Croatian and the same name is used for the modern Croatian kuna currency, which was later replaced with the euro. This kuna was subdivided into 100 banica. It was preceded and replaced by the Yugoslav dinar.
The banknotes of the Yugoslav dinar were several series of paper money printed by the central bank of the different consecutive states named Yugoslavia.
The first mention of a "Serbian dinar" dates back to the reign of Stefan Nemanjić in 1214. Until the fall of the Serbian Despotate in 1459, most of the Serbian rulers minted silver dinar coins.
The marturina or kunovina, referring to marten's fur, was a tax collected in the lands to the south of the Drava River in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary among the early Slavs. The term became important in the history of Croatian currency because it was the first of several instances of martens being used to symbolize money in Croatia.
The Croatian euro coins are a set of euro coins currently being minted by the Croatian Mint since July 2022. They are the official euro coins with the national motif of Croatia.
↑ "Yugoslavia". International Encyclopedia of the First World War. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
1 2 "Kratka povijest hrvatskog novca"[A brief history of Croatian money]. Croatian National Bank (in Croatian). 21 April 2003. Archived from the original on 21 April 2003. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
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