Croatian kuna

During Roman times, in the provinces of upper and lower Pannonia (today Hungary and Slavonia), taxes were collected in the then highly valued marten skins. Hence the Croatian word marturina ("tax"), which derived from the Medieval Latin word for "marten" martus, which came from Proto-Germanic *marþuz through Old Dutch and Old French (modern Croatian for "marten": kuna). The kuna was a currency unit in several Slavic states, most notably Kievan Rus and its successors until the early 15th century. It was equal to 1⁄25 (later 1⁄50) gryvna of silver. The plural form of kuna in Croatian is kune.[3]

It has no relation to the various Slavic currencies named "koruna" (translated as kruna in Croatian) which means "crown".

In the Middle Ages, many foreign monies were used in Croatia, but since at least 1018 a local currency was in use. From the beginning of the 12th century up to the middle of 13th century, Slavonia used an Austrian currency known as frizatik.[4] Between 1260 and 1380, Croatian Viceroys issued a marten-adorned silver coin called the banovac.[5][6] However, the diminishing autonomy of Croatia within the Croatian-Hungarian Kingdom led to the gradual disappearance of that currency in the 14th century.

The idea of a kuna currency reappeared in 1939 when Banovina of Croatia, an autonomous province established within Kingdom of Yugoslavia, planned to issue its own money, along with the Yugoslav dinar.[7][8] In 1941, when the Ustaše regime formed the Independent State of Croatia, they introduced the Independent State of Croatia kuna.[7] This currency remained in circulation until 1945, when it – along with competing issues by the communist Partisans – disappeared with the establishment of FPR Yugoslavia and was replaced by the Yugoslav dinar.[9]

The modern kuna was introduced on May 30, 1994, starting a period of transition from the Croatian dinar, introduced in 1991, which ended on December 31, 1994.[10] One kuna was equivalent to 1,000 dinars at a fixed exchange rate. The kuna was pegged to the German mark from the start. With the replacement of the mark by the euro, the kuna's peg effectively switched to the euro.

The choice of the name kuna was controversial because the same currency name had been used by the Independent State of Croatia kuna, but this was dismissed as a red herring, since the same name was also in use during the Banovina of Croatia and by the ZAVNOH.[9] An alternative proposal for the name of the new currency was kruna (crown), divided into 100 banica (viceroy's wife), but this was deemed too similar to the Austro-Hungarian krone and found inappropriate for the country which is a republic,[9] even though the Czech Republic and, until 2008, Slovakia have used currencies called "crown".

The self-proclaimed Serbian entity Republic of Serbian Krajina did not use the kuna or the Croatian dinar. Instead, they issued their own Krajina dinar until the region was reintegrated into Croatia in 1995. Between 1996 and 1998 United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium facilitated gradual introduction of the currency into Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia where it was used in parallel with other currencies.[11]

A long-time policy of the Croatian National Bank has been to keep the fluctuations of the kuna's exchange rate against the euro (or, previously, the mark) within a relatively stable range. Since the introduction of the euro in 1999, the exchange rate between the two currencies rarely fluctuated to a substantial degree, remaining at a near constant 7.5:1 (HRK to EUR) rate. Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013 and the Exchange Rate Mechanism on 10 July 2020 at a rate of 7.53450 HRK to €1.[12][13] The kuna is expected to be replaced by the euro on 1 January 2023 after satisfying prerequisites,[14] as the initial time estimate of standard four years after joining the European Union proved too short.[15]

In 1994,[10] coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 lipa (Croatian word for linden or tilia tree), 1, 2, 5 and 25 kuna. The coins are issued in two versions: one with the name of the plant or animal in Croatian (issued in odd years), the other with the name in Latin (issued in even years). Overall more coins have been minted with Croatian names than with names in Latin.[16]

Due to their low value, 1 and 2 lipa coins are rarely used.[17] Since 2009, these coins are no longer minted,[17] but the Croatian National Bank has stated that it had no plans for withdrawing them, and the 1 and 2 lipa coins are still minted as non-circulating, mainly for numismatic collections.[18]

These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

The notes were designed by Miroslav Šutej and Vilko Žiljak, and all feature prominent Croatians on front and architectural motifs on back. The geometric figures at lower left on front (except the 5-kuna note) are intaglio printed for recognition by the blind people. To the right of the coat of arms on front is a microprinted version of the Croatian national anthem, Lijepa naša domovino (Our Beautiful Homeland).[20] The overall design is reminiscent of Deutsche Mark banknotes of the fourth series.

The first series of notes was dated 31 October 1993. The 5, 10 and 20 kuna notes from this series were withdrawn on 1 April 2007, and the 50, 100 and 200 kuna notes were withdrawn on 1 January 2010, but remain exchangeable at the HNB in Zagreb.[21]

New series of notes with slightly tweaked, but similar designs and improved security features were released in 2001, 2004, 2012 and 2014.[22]

Kuna banknotes[23]

Image		Value		Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse	In Kuna	Equivalent in Euros (€)			Obverse	Reverse	Printing	Issue
		5 Kuna	€0.6648	122×61 mm	Green	Fran Krsto Frankopan and Petar Zrinski	The Old Fort and layout of the old Varaždin castle.	7 March 2001	9 July 2001
		10 Kuna	€1.3296	126×63 mm	Green-Brown	Bishop Juraj Dobrila	The Pula Arena and Motovun town layout.	7 March 2001 9 July 2012	18 June 2001 18 March 2013
		20 Kuna	€2.6592	130×65 mm	Red	Ban Josip Jelačić	The Eltz Manor in Vukovar and the Vučedol Dove.	7 March 2001 9 July 2012	16 August 2001 18 March 2013
		50 Kuna	€6.648	134×67 mm	Blue	Ivan Gundulić	The Old City of Dubrovnik and its Rector's Palace.	7 March 2002 9 July 2012	25 November 2002 25 September 2017
		100 Kuna	€13.296	138×69 mm	Orange	Ban Ivan Mažuranić and the Baška tablet	St. Vitus Cathedral in Rijeka and its layout.	7 March 2002 9 July 2012	3 June 2002 1 July 2013
		200 Kuna	€26.592	142×71 mm	Brown	Stjepan Radić	The old General Command building in Osijek and layout of the City-fortress of Tvrđa.	7 March 2002 9 July 2012	12 August 2002 1 July 2013
		500 Kuna	€66.48	146×73 mm	Olive green	Marko Marulić	Diocletian's Palace in Split and the motif of Croatian ruler from 11th century.	31 October 1993	30 May 1994
		1000 Kuna	€132.96	150×75 mm	Blue-Red-Grey	Ante Starčević	Statue of King Tomislav and the Zagreb Cathedral.	31 October 1993	30 May 1994
Commemorative issues in circulation
		10 Kuna	€1.3296	126×63 mm	Green-Brown	Bishop Juraj Dobrila	The Pula Arena and Motovun town layout. (10th anniversary issue)	24 May 2004	30 May 2004
		20 Kuna	€2.6592	130x65 mm	Red	Ban Josip Jelačić	The Eltz Manor in Vukovar and the Vučedol Dove. (20th anniversary issue)	30 May 2014	30 May 2014

These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

• Independent State of Croatia kuna
• Economy of Croatia
• Croatia and the euro

• Granic, Stan (December 2008). "From Fur Money to Modern Currency: The Kuna" (PDF). Review of Croatian History. IV (1): 87–109. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
• Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
• Pick, Albert (1990). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: Specialized Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (6th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-149-8.

• Viščević, Zlatko (2004). Kovani novac Republike Hrvatske od osamostaljenja do danas [Coins of the Republic of Croatia from Independence to the Present Day] (PDF) (in Croatian and English). ISBN 953-99817-0-0. Retrieved 11 January 2012.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Money of Croatia.

• Croatian National Bank - English pages
• Historical and current banknotes of Croatia (in English and German)