 |
| Banknotes of the Czechoslovak koruna |
 |
| Czechoslovak koruna |
Czechoslovakian banknotes, Czechoslovakian paper money, Czechoslovakian bank notes, Czechoslovakia banknotes, Czechoslovakia paper money, Bohemia and Moravia banknotes, Czechoslovakia bank notes, Czechoslovak koruna, Czechoslovakian currency.
Obverse: Portrait of Girl in national costume of the Plzen Region (Czech Republic), River Elbe with Rip mountain at left center.
Reverse: Standing allegorical woman at center.
Banknote issued by the Nationalbank für Böhmen und Mähren in Prag. It is dated 25. October 1943 and is an over-print on the Czechoslovakian 5000 Korun banknote from 6. July 1920
Czechoslovak koruna
The Czechoslovak koruna (in Czech and Slovak: Koruna československá, at times Koruna česko-slovenská; koruna means crown) was the currency of Czechoslovakia from April 10, 1919 to March 14, 1939 and from November 1, 1945 to February 7, 1993. For a brief time in 1939 and 1993 it was also the currency in separate Czech and Slovak republics.On February 8, 1993 it was replaced by the Czech koruna and the Slovak koruna, both at par.
The (last) ISO 4217 code and the local abbreviations for the koruna were CSK and Kčs. One koruna equalled 100 haleru (Czech, singular: haléř) or halierov (Slovak, singular: halier). In both languages, the abbreviation h was used. The abbreviation was placed behind the numeric value.
First koruna
A currency called the Krone in German and koruna in Czech was introduced in Austria-Hungary on 11 September 1892, as the first modern gold-based currency in the area. After the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, an urgent need emerged for the establishment of a new currency system that would distinguish itself from the currencies of the other newly born countries suffering from inflation. The next year, on 10 April 1919, a currency reform took place, defining the new koruna as equal in value to the Austro-Hungarian krone. The first banknotes came into circulation the same year, the coins three years later, in 1922.
This first koruna circulated until 1939, when separate currencies for Bohemia and Moravia and Slovakia were introduced, at par with the Czechoslovak koruna. These were the Bohemia and Moravia koruna and the Slovak koruna.
In 1921, coins were introduced in denominations of 20 and 50 haleru, followed by 10h and 1 koruna in 1922, 2 and 5h in 1923, 5 korun in 1925, 10 korun in 1930, and 25h and 20 korun in 1933. The 2h was struck in zinc, the 5 and 10h in bronze, and the 20, 25 and 50h and 1 koruna in cupro-nickel. The 5 koruna was struck in cupro-nickel until 1928, when a silver version was introduced. This denomination reverted to cupro-nickel in 1938. The 10 and 20 korun were issued in silver.
The first banknotes were issues of the Austro-Hungarian Bank to which adhesive stamps were affixed. Denominations were of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 korun. Regular banknotes were issued by the Republic of Czechoslovakia between 1919 and 1926, in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 korun. The Czechoslovak National Bank took over production in 1926, issuing notes for 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 korun. The new designs were made by Alfons Mucha, one of the founders of Art Nouveau and a Slavic nationalist. The urgency of the task led him to reuse a previous portrait of Josephine Crane Bradley as Slavia for the 100 koruna bill.
Second koruna
The Czechoslovak koruna was re-established in 1945, replacing the two previous currencies at par. As a consequence of the war, the currency had lost much of its value.
Between 1946 and 1948, 20 and 50 haleru and 1 and 2 koruny coins were introduced. The lower two denominations were struck in bronze, the higher two in cupro-nickel. The designs of all but the 2 koruny were based on those of the interwar coins but the coins were smaller. In 1950, aluminium 1 korun coins were introduced, followed by aluminium 20 and 50h in 1951. 5 korun coins were minted but not introduced. A monetary reform occurred in 1953.
In 1945, four kinds of banknotes were introduced. The first were issues of Bohemia and Moravia and Slovakia, to which adhesive stamps were affixed. Denominations issued were 100, 500 and 1000 korun. The second (dated 1944) were printed in the Soviet Union and were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 20, 100, 500 and 1000 korun. The third were locally printed notes issued by the government in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 korun. The fourth were issues of the Czechoslovak National Bank, in denominations of 1000 and 5000 korun. The National Bank issued 500 korun notes from 1946, whilst the government continued to issue notes between 5 and 100 korun, the 1 korun note being replaced by a coin in 1946.
Third koruna
The koruna went through a number of further reforms. A particularly drastic one was undertaken in 1953. At that time, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia had to deal with the fact that there was a double market in the country: a fixed market ensuring basic food availability – a remnant of the post war quota system, and a free market, in which goods were as much as eight times more expensive but of a higher quality. They decided to declare a currency reform valid from 1 June 1953, and to distribute new banknotes printed in the USSR. The reform had been prepared very quickly and was confidential up to the last minute, but some information leaked anyway, causing a lot of panic among people. The night before the deadline, the president of Czechoslovakia Antonín Zápotocký made a radio speech, in which he strictly denied any possibility of a reform and quieted down the inhabitants, though he had to know that he was lying to the nation. The next day, people (that were lucky enough not to fit into the category of "capitalistic elements", a pejorative category to which the intelligence agency used to blacklist certain individuals) were allowed to change up to 1500 old korun for new korun at the rate of 5 old to 1 new koruna and the rest at the rate of 50 to 1. All insurance stock, state obligations and other commercial papers were nullified. The economic situation of many people got worse insofar as many petitions and demonstrations broke out, the largest of which took place in Plzeň, where 472 people were arrested.
In 1993, in accordance with the dissolution of the Czechoslovak federation, the Czechoslovak koruna split into two independent currencies – the Slovak koruna and the Czech koruna. Accession to the EU in 2004 meant both currencies were slotted to be replaced by the Euro once their respective countries meet the criteria for economic convergence and there is the political will to do so. The Slovak koruna was replaced by the Euro on 1 January 2009; there is currently no set or estimated date for the Czech koruna to be replaced.