June the 20th, 2021 - Have you checked your jacket pockets and old wallets lately? If you've got any of these Croatian banknotes lying around, you've only got a certain amount of time to get them exchanged as the Croatian National Banks begin removing them from circulation.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian National Bank has so far withdrawn seven series of 5, 10, 50, 100 and 200 kuna banknotes, six of which were issued back in 1993 and one two years later. To date, however, 9.5 million such invalid Croatian banknotes, out of a total of more than three hundred million printed, are still in circulation.

The highest number of invalid banknotes (11 percent) in denominations of five kuna each were issued back in 1993. This banknote is primarily green with the image of Petar Zrinski and Fran Frankopan. The nominal value of this most invalid banknote stands at around 17 million kuna, writes Vecernji list.

The CNB pointed out that 750 of these oldest paper Croatian banknotes have been returned to them over the last year, and they have been exchanged for the same value. In the last year alone, the CNB received a total of 17,706 invalid Croatian banknotes, including 3,923 200 kuna banknotes bearing the image of Stjepan Radic.

In the year dominated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many people seemed entirely unaware that you haven't been able to spend some of these notes for as long as ten years now. The value of the old 200 kuna note in the last year stood at as much as 784,600 kuna. The total value of all returned Croatian banknotes exchanged from May 2020 to the end of May this year was around 1.44 million kuna in total!

A year ago, about 2,800 ten kuna banknotes, 1,707 20 kuna banknotes, a little more than five thousand old 50 kuna banknotes and a little more than three thousand old one hundred kuna banknotes were ''dusted off'' and returned.

The Croatian National Bank will replace all invalid kuna banknotes free of charge and without a time limit to anyone who brings them in person to the CNB box office at 5 Franjo Racki in Zagreb, or sends them in by mail.

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Don't worry, the Croatian kuna isn't being phased out in time for the euro's introduction just yet, but there are several old Croatian banknotes, some (but not all) of which might look no different to the usual ones you spend, that are actually no longer legal tender in Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of June, 2019, the Croatian banknotes you need to be checking your wallets, jacket pockets and the crevices of your sofa are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 kuna notes which bear the date of issue as October the 31st, 1993 and January the 15th, 1995, according to vijesti.hr.

While these dates are now a long time ago and you might think that plain old paper banknotes might not have survived for that length of time, it has been reported that as many as nine million and 600,000 kuna worth of kuna banknotes are still in circulation within the country, and as Vecernji list states, it's possible that you have them in your wallet, or under your bed as the case may be.

If you happen to have any of the banknotes mentioned above, you can freely exchange it at the Croatian National Bank (HNB/CNB). In just one year, from the 31st of May, 2018 to the 31st of May this year, the bank received as many as 38,500 of these various now illegal banknotes from people in various denominations.

The 10 kuna bills bearing the issue date on October the 31st, 1993 ceased to be a legal instrument of payment on April the 1st, 2001. Yet according to the data of the Croatian National Bank, as of May the 31st, 2019, as many as 699,153 of these old notes are still in circulation. Of those with the date of issue being January the 15th, 1995, there are stil 2,353,407 out there somewhere.

The 20 kuna banknotes bearing the issue date of October the 31st, 1993 ceased to be legal tender on April the 1st, 2007. There are still 1,735,062 of these banknotes in circulation, even though they haven't been legal tender for a very long time now.

The situation with the other banknotes mentioned above is similar, so if you see that you have any with the date of issue being October the 31st, 1993, make sure to take them to a bank and exchange them for legal notes free of charge.

Invalid banknotes can be delivered by post to the following address: The Croatian National Bank, Treasury Department, Trg hrvatskih velikana 3, 10002, Zagreb, or, they can be taken in person to the Croatian National Bank at Franjo Rački 5, Zagreb, Croatia.

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A practical money guide for the tourist in Croatia, including foreign exchange tips, using kuna abroad and information about Croatian coins and banknotes.

The unit of currency in Croatia is the Croatian kuna, which was introduced to the newly independent country in 1994, replacing the Yugoslav dinar at a rate of 1 kuna for 1000 dinar. Kuna literally means 'marten', a throwback to earlier times when the currency of the region was animal skins and marten pelts were considered valuable. One kuna is sub-divided into 100 lipa (which means linden tree).

Foreign Currency Exchange and Buying Kuna

Planning a holiday to Croatia requires some currency management. Kuna can be purchased in foreign banks and at selected bureau de change prior to travel, but the exchange rates tend to be worse than those available on arrival in Croatia.

Croatian banks dispense kuna to foreign cards from their cash machines, but a slightly better rate is sometimes obtainable by buying the currency over the counter with a card. Cash withdrawal per ATM transaction vary from bank to bank, but are in the region of 1,600 - 2,000 kuna. Dollars, Euro and Pound sterling are all widely accepted in the banks for cash exchange. Certain foreign currencies, such as UAE Dirhams, for example, cannot be exchanged.

The most common foreign currency in use in Croatia is the Euro, which can be used instead of the local currency in many cases, especially in the tourist areas on the coast, where bars, restaurants and even supermarkets will accept Euro on request. The exchange rate tends to be slightly lower, however, with 1 euro converted at 7 kuna, whereas the normal exchange rate fluctuates between 7.1 and 7.5.

Using Kuna Outside Croatia

Although the Croatian kuna is not a 'hard' currency as such, it is widely accepted in Western Bosnia, in the ethnically Croat region of Herzegovina. This includes the coastal town of Neum, through which travellers from Split to Dubrovnik must pass - with prices lower in Bosnia, Neum is a good place to stock up on supplies. The generally accepted exchange rate is 4 kuna to the Bosnian Mark, about 10% higher than the rate in the bank.

Croatian Kuna Exchange Rates

The kuna is closely aligned to the euro and the exchange rate between the two currencies rarely moves more than 3% from 7.3 kuna to the euro. The weakening of the pound is reflected in a 2002 exchange rate of 11.5 kuna dipping to below 8 kuna in 2010. It is currently around 8.5. The US dollar fluctuates between 5 and 6 kuna to the dollar.

Croatian Coins and Banknotes

Croatian coins coming in the following denominations - 5, 2 and 1 kuna, and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 lipa. A mildly interesting curiosity about Croatian coins is that those minted in odd years are named after plants and animals in Croatian, whereas those in even years are named in Latin.

Bank notes reflect glorious characters of Croatian history, with towns of Croatia on the back (in brackets below):

1000 kuna Ante Starcevic (Statue of King Tomislav and Zagreb Cathedral)
500 kuna Marko Marulic (Diocletian's Palace in Split)
200 kuna Stjepan Radic (The army buiding in Tvrdja, Osijek)
100 kuna Ban Ivan Mažuranic (St. Vitus Cathedral in Rijeka)
50 kuna Ivan Gundulic (Old City of Dubrovnik)
20 kuna Ban Josip Jelacic (Eltz Manor in Vukovar)
10 kuna Bishop Juraj Dobrila (Pula Arena and Town Plan of Motovun)
5 kuna Fran Krsto Frankopanand Petar Zrinski (Old Town Fort in Varaždin)

Using Credit Cards

Credit cards are widely accepted, but they are not available in all restaurants, so you are advised to check before you dine if you plan to pay by card.

We recommend using MyTravelMoney.co.uk for comparing croatian kuna exchange rates. The site updates with live travel money rates every 5 minutes. You can save up to 10% versus buying last minute at the airport bureaus.