Croatian Mint | mint | www.metalmarket.eu
Croatian Mint
History of creation
The Croatian Mint, formerly known as the Croatian Monetary Institute, was established on April 23, 1993. Its founder and also sole shareholder is the Croatian National Bank. The Croatian Mint is thus a fully state-controlled entity, and thus a protected facility that is obliged to comply with security rules specifically defined in the Law on the Protection of Monetary Institutions.
The main activity of the Croatian Mint is the production of coins, medals, commemorative plaques and badges in gold, silver and other precious metals. One of the most distinctive coins on offer from the Croatian Mint is the Dalmatian Dog. His choice for the theme of the investment coin series is, of course, not accidental. The Croatian National Bank wanted to honor this world-famous dog breed in this way and at the same time emphasize its Croatian pedigree.
In 1994, the International Kennel Federation (FCI) recognized the Dalmatian dog as an indigenous Croatian breed, as confirmed by numerous paintings and church chronicle records from the 16th century. To emphasize the Dalmatian dog's Croatian pedigree, Nikola Vudrag, the sculptor responsible for the coin's image, decided to juxtapose its profile with a piece of the Croatian coastline, washed by waves. Also not coincidental are the spots, which are a distinctive feature of Dalmatians - the shape refers to the Croatian islands.
However, dynamic development did not occur until the 1990s. Coins again began to be decorated with the national emblem - the crowned eagle and the name of the state - the Republic of Poland, a company store was opened, the first gold bullion coins were minted ("The Eagle of the Bielik"), and the company was listed on the stock exchange. In 2005, the name of the State Mint S.A. was replaced by the Mint of Poland S.A., which remains relevant to this day.
Curiosity
The Croatian Mint's production capacity is very large, which is partly due to the fact that it has been preparing for a long time to mint new circulation coins. The Council of the European Union has officially approved Croatia's admission to the eurozone beginning in 2023. Coins are currently produced by 70 employees in a three-shift operation using six presses capable of producing 500 to 800 coins per minute. It is estimated that the mint is capable of producing up to 4 million coins a day.
Production volume
As part of its operations, the Mint of Poland mints both circulation coins and collector or bullion coins. It produces coins not only on behalf of the National Bank of Poland, but also on behalf of foreign issuers and central banks - m. in.: Ukraine, Armenia, Thailand, Bolivia, Paraguay or Dominican Republic. In addition, it manufactures bars of varying weights, medals and state medals, stamps and test stamps, date stamps and stamps.
Volumes for investment and collector coins are incomparably smaller. For example, in the case of the silver Dalmatian Dog (1oz) it was 15,000 pieces. Its counterpart in the gold version was minted in 999 pieces. The gold Kuna with a denomination of 5 kuna, which went on sale in 2022, was minted in only 2022 copies.
Most popular products
Perhaps the most popular coin, minted by the Croatian Mint, is the gold kuna (hr. Zlatna kuna). It was created in late 2020, when the Croatian National Bank, in cooperation with the Croatian Mint, decided to issue a series of gold investment coins using the theme of circulation coins.
The 2020 coins minted were identical in their features - motif, thickness and diameter - to the circulating one kuna coin. They differed only in weight, as gold is a precious metal with a higher density than the metal used to strike circulating coins. In 2021, the 1 kuna coin was replaced by a 2 kuna coin, while in 2022 the 5 kuna coin was replaced by a 5 kuna coin.
The obverse of the gold investment coins is decorated with a running marten, hidden behind the denomination of the coin, the coat of arms of Croatia and the name of the country - "REPUBLIKA HRVATSKA.". The reverse of the coin is decorated with the image of a nightingale (1 kuna coin), a tuna (2 kuna coin) and a brown bear (5 kuna coin).
A series of coins decorated with images of Dalmatian dogs is also very popular. Coins are minted primarily in gold and silver, but there is also a range of colored coins minted as part of heavily limited series. Gold coins have weights of 1oz, ¼ oz and 1/16 oz. Silver comes in 1-ounce or 5-ounce variants.
The obverse is decorated with an image of a Dalmatian and the Croatian coat of arms, and is complemented by the coin's denomination and the name of the country - "REPUBLIKA HRVATSKA.". On the back are two Dalmatians, the year the coin was struck, and inscriptions: "DALMATINSKI PAS" and "CANIS DALMATICUS"".