In Roman times, in the provinces of upper and lower Pannonia (today Hungary and Slavonia), taxes were collected in the form of highly valued marten skins. Hence the Croatian word marturina (for tax) was derived from the Latin word martus (Croatian: kuna).
The official currency of the Republic of Croatia is the Kuna (shortened to “HRK” or “kn”) and it is subdivided into 100 Lipa (shorted to “lp”).
Coins have denominations of 1, 2, 5, 25 Kuna and 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 Lipa. Banknotes come in eight different denominations: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 Kuna.
Exchange rates
Approximately, the Kuna’s exchange rate to major currencies is the following:
1 EUR = 7.6 HRK
1 USD = 6.1 HRK
1 GBP = 9.7 HRK
The exchange rates quoted in this list are applied as of 26 November 2014.
The web site of the Croatian national bank provides daily update of the official exchange rate of the Kuna to major foreign currencies.
History of the Croatian Kuna
In Roman times, in the provinces of upper and lower Pannonia (today Hungary and Slavonia), taxes were collected in the form of highly valued marten skins. Hence the Croatian word marturina (for tax) was derived from the Latin word martus (Croatian: kuna). In the Middle Ages, many foreign monies were used in Croatia, but since at least 1018 a home currency was in use. Between 1260 and 1380 the Croatian Viceroys made a marten-adorned silver coin. However, the diminishing autonomy of Croatia within the Croatia-Hungarian Kingdom led to the gradual disappearance of that currency.
The marten currency, the Kuna, reappeared in 1939 when the Banovina of Croatia (a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) considered issuing its own money. The Kuna was launched in 1941 by the Croatian collaborationist government and was subsequently abolished at the end of World War II. Following Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991, the Kuna currency was introduced as of 30 May 1994.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Croatia
