Exhibit and special banknote to mark 30 years of Czechoslovak currency split

The Czech National Bank (ČNB) is issuing a special CZK 1,000 banknote to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Czech Republic having its own currency.

There will also be an exhibition in Prague to mark the anniversary of the splitting of the Czechoslovak crown into two different vesions for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

“There was no state that divorced so easily. I don't even remember an example of such an easy split of the currency,” Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura said at a press conference, according to iDnes.

While the Czech crown still exists, Slovakia in 2009 dropped its crown in favor of the euro. “At the time, no one knew that the Slovak crown would only exist for 16 years,” Stanjura said. He added that it is important for Czechia to have its own monetary policy.

ČNB Deputy Governor Eva Zamrazilová said the successful split of the two currencies was a “velvet monetary separation” without any technical problems.

A CZK 1,000 banknote with additional overprinting will be available at the cash desk of all ČNB offices starting on Feb. 8 until the supply runs out. People can get them in exchange for CZK 1,000 in Czech currency.

Technically, this is an exchange of banknotes and not a sale of souvenirs. Credit cards are not accepted. The overprinting does not affect the value or validity of the banknotes. They can still be used to pay for goods and services – though it is unlikely collectors will want to use them that way.

The limit is five banknotes per person. Long lines are expected, as interest in special edition items has been high in the past. The ČNB urges people to have the exact amount of money ready for the number of notes they want. Banknotes cannot be ordered online or sent in advance.

Aside from the ČNB building on Na Příkopě in Prague, people can also get the notes at offices in České Budějovice, Pilsen, Ústí nad Labem, Hradec Králové, Brno, and Ostrava, during extended cashier hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The commemorative notes are from the currently valid 2008 series, with additional printing on the front. In 1993, the first banknotes that were used in the new Czech Republic were Czechoslovak notes with a special validation stamp pasted on the face. The commemorative banknote will have a printed image of the validation stamp with the number 1,000.

The notes will also have the logo of the 30th anniversary of the ČNB, which consists of the letters ČNB, the number 30, and the dates 1993 and 2023. The logo was designed by painter and author Jan Solpera, who not only designed the lettering font now used on Czech banknotes but also came up with a widely used classification system for Czech fonts.

Also starting on Feb. 8, the exhibition Rozděleno! will open in the ČNB visitor center in Prague. Admission is free. It will document the creation of two separate central banks and currencies, and compare their monetary developments.

This CZK 1,000 note is the second Czech banknote in the series to feature a special overprint. The first was a CZK 100 note that was issued in 2019 on the occasion of 100 years since the monetary separation of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary. Some of the earliest banknotes for Czechoslovakia were designed by Art Nouveau artist Alfons Mucha.

The state printing office Státní tiskárna cenin in 2022 printed commemorative banknotes to mark the 50th birthday of hockey legend Jaromír Jágr, though these were not valid as currency. The banknotes were made for the private company České dukáty, which creates and markets collectibles.