The World's Smallest Coin Comes With Built-In Magnifying Glass Packaging

By Brendan Menapace

Big news in the commemorative coin world: Switzerland just created the world’s smallest coin. Measuring 2.96 mm (0.1”) in diameter and featuring Swiss citizen Albert Einstein’s famous tongue-out pose, the quarter-franc is so tiny that some of its features can’t be seen with the naked eye.

Through some packaging genius, Swissmint fixed that issue, though.

“Guinness World Records has recognized the quarter-franc gold coin issued in 2020 as the world’s smallest commemorative coin,” Swissmint said in a statement, according to Phys.org. “The world’s smallest commemorative coin is decorated with images that cannot be discerned with the naked eye,” Swissmint said in a statement. “Swissmint has therefore designed special packaging, complete with magnifying lenses and light.”

If you're having trouble visualizing just how small the coin is, check out the video below:

Only 999 of the solid gold coins were minted, and they sold out almost immediately, according to CoinWeek. Each coin cost 199 Swiss francs, equivalent to about $216 USD.

Think about any time you’ve put together IKEA furniture that included tiny little allen wrench nuts. You know that dreaded feeling of dropping it, hearing it ping against your floor, and then disappearing into thin air? Imagine if that little thing was made of solid gold and was a collector’s item.

Having it come in such a practical package like this is smart. And, since it’s a collector’s item, there’s no real need to take it out. It’s like having a little museum display for it.

So, why did they make it so small? I think this is kind of a “Why not?” situation. It’s fun. For collectors, it’s something they’ve never seen before, and they can say they have the world’s smallest coin.