Smallest circulating coin of the 20th century
Samets
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Man oh man! This thing is tiny! I knew it had to be small but seeing one in real life...
Known affectionately as the "Panama Pill," a tiny 90% silver coin measuring just 10mm across and weighing just 1.25 grams.
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Panama Pill and Travancore chuckram, (1860-1901).
The "Panama pill" is the world's smallest milled or machine-struck coin. Smaller coins have been hand-struck, including a couple in the 20th century (such as the one posted by MasonG).
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
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Anyone got a raw Panama pill they can measure for me with digital calipers? It's the last measurement I need to set up a Panama coin album.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
Need a personalized album made? Design it on the website below and I'll build it for you.
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Everywhere I looked it says 10mm. Do you suspect it's wrong?
I've learned not to trust listed measurements after using them to make a few books and then the coins didn't fit. Even a discrepancy of 0.1mm makes a difference when cutting holes.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
Need a personalized album made? Design it on the website below and I'll build it for you.
https://www.donahuenumismatics.com/.
Maybe in the 20th century, but the Nurnberg 1/32 Ducat is milled and far smaller.
Gobrecht's Engraved Mature Head Large Cent Model
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What's the smallest coin still circulating? The Thai 25 satang coin is 16mm.
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According to a Reddit post 8 months ago found by Google on the subject, the current smallest coin is the 1 cent coin of the Caribbean guilder, issued in the names of Curacao and St Maarten, at 15 mm. Numista example.
The most recent incarnation of the Mexican 10 centavos coin (since 2009) is 14mm across, but hasn't been produced since 2019; I'm not sure if they're still in use - given it now has a face value of half a US cent, I'd suspect not.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
It isn’t used. Even the homeless don’t pick one up if it were on the street.
Though, the Mexican Peso has strengthened significantly under the current administration in Washington just like PMs.
This highlights a problem attempting to answer all of those "what's the world's smallest denomination" type of questions, whether we're talking physical size or purchasing power: there are plenty of coin types out there in the world, which nominally exist on the government's books and and nominally circulate, but for all practical purposes do not.
Take the Thailand 1, 5 and 10 satang coins. These coins exist, and are still produced in limited quantities and included in mint sets, but they don't circulate - banks in Thailand usually have some in stock, but refuse to give them to you unless it's necessary for accounting purposes. Given that 1 Thai baht = 3 US cents, 1 satang (1/100th of a baht) is worth only a tiny fraction of a cent, with the metal content of the coins being worth way above the face value. Even the 25 and 50 satang coins are rarely used; most prices at the street markets are rounded to the nearest baht, or even nearest 5 or 10 baht these days.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
When I was last in Thailand in 2024 I received 25 and 50 satang coins but definitely not as common as they were back in the 80s
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'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
This 19th century tiny gold coin is possibly the smallest modern machine-struck coin ever made.
Guatemala 4 Reales 1860
Obverse: Rafael Carrera facing right / RAFAEL CARRERA P. DE LA R. DE GUATEMALA
Reverse: Wreath / 4 REALES 1860 / 21 Q R
Gold, 9mm, 0.83gm, 0.875 fine
The obverse has "FRENER F." under the bust but it is hard to read. Jean-Baptiste Frener was a Swiss engraver who lived in Guatemala from 1854 to 1897. He worked at the mint in Guatemala City.
The reverse "21 Q" is 21 Quilates (21 karat or 21/24 or 0.875 gold). The "R" is mint assayer Rafael Romaña. Many coin catalogs treat the "R" as a mint mark.
The original value was 4 reales or one-half peso, the equivalent of one-half US dollar. The coin is close in size to the little California fractional gold coins. It is smaller than the US silver three-cent piece and the "Panama Pill" 1904 2-1/2 centavos.
Rafael Carrera was a peasant and soldier who rose to power during the first part of the 19th century. He was President of Guatemala from 1854 to 1865 and managed to keep Guatemala independent of Mexico. He also instituted the coffee-growing industry there. Rafael Carrera died on April 14, 1865.
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The Panama pill (I've never owned one), sounds like a relatively heavy coin at 1.25 grams,for a 10 mm diameter coin, considering that the Latin Union smallest silver coins, were 16 (or 17) mm in diameter but weighed only 1.0 gram of silver.
Is the chuckram a division of the gold fanam? It looks infinitely smaller than the fanam.
It is probably the first one I've seen, or paid attention to it ,thanks to the brilliant idea of placing it next to the Panama pill !
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This one is cool too. It isn't uniquely small, as this kind of sizes and weights in gold coins, are common in Egyptian and Turkish Ottoman coinage of the 19th century. But its Western appearance, with portrait on the obverse and value and date on the reverse, make it look more like some modern gold mini replica coins.
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The EIC Bengal Presidency 1792 hexagonal patterns from the Soho Mint are 15mm and 9mm respectively (Pridmore-365 and Pridmore-368). Of course they are patterns, not regular issues,, and quite rare at that. I've always wanted a set.
Well, just Love coins, period.