In the early 70s I was given a collector's 'world's smallest coin', in a blue square cardboard mount in English, the coin was silver coloured around 1cm diameter. It had a head on the front and a pattern on the back, possibly a wing and may have been from the American continent. I haven't found it online and is now beaten by later issues, but claimed to be the smallest in 1970. Can you identify it?

Question

In the early 70s I was given a collector's 'world's smallest coin', in a blue square cardboard mount in English, the coin was silver coloured around 1cm diameter. It had a head on the front and a pattern on the back, possibly a wing and may have been from the American continent. I haven't found it online and is now beaten by later issues, but claimed to be the smallest in 1970. Can you identify it?

Question #152366. Asked by satguru.
Last updated Mar 19 2026.
Originally posted Feb 14 2026 9:04 PM.

gtho4

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gtho4

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The diameter of this coin from Panama was a mere 10mm. It has a head on the front (Vasco Nunex de Balboa) and a wing /coat of arms on the back, but it's copper rather than silver. It was minted in 1904 in Philadelphia USA.

Balboa was a Spaniard, the first European to cross the Isthmus, to reach the Pacific by land and discover the Perlas Archipelago (1513). The seven stars represent the country's seven provinces at that time (there are now ten). This coin is the smallest ever minted in the USA, thus its nickname "Panama pill". It was needed to make the 12.5 cents = 1 real of the former Hispanic-American monetary system when added to a 10-cent coin.

https://en.numista.com/20590

Mar 17 2026, 12:17 AM

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satguru

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satguru

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Mine was from the 1960s, and looked fairly new. It may not have been genuinely the smallest coin in the world but maybe the smallest in circulation at the time. I sold it carelessly long ago and miss it.

Mar 19 2026, 6:37 PM

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