Smallest paper money

The smallest national note ever issued was the 10-bani note of the Ministry of Finance of Romania in 1917. It measured (printed area) 27.5 x 38 mm (1.08 x 1.49 in)—just 1/10th the size of a US$1 banknote. One side featured King Ferdinand I, while the other bore the royal coat of arms.

These Romanian banknotes were issued under similar circumstances to the better-known German "Notgeld". At the end of World War I, many European economies were in crisis, with acute shortages of coins due to hoarding and materials shortages. Some examples of Notgeld were even smaller than the Romanian 10 bani – the smallest were the 1/3 pfennig notes of Passau (1920-1), measuring 18 x 18.5 mm (0.7 x 0.72 in). Notgeld, however, was issued by local and regional institutions, or even companies, that were not officially authorized to issue paper currency, making them a private issue (akin to company scrip) and not actual currency, though they did contribute to the monetary supply.