100 years of the koruna

The book was prepared to mark an important anniversary – one hundred years of our national currency. It was written by a team of Czech National Bank experts headed by CNB Vice-Governor, Professor Vladimír Tomšík. This publication charts the monetary policy history of our central bank (or, to use older terminology, the bank of issue) and describes its institutional development and the banknotes it has issued over time. It covers the period from the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak state in October 1918 and its currency in February 1919 to the present. We have therefore named the publication 100 years of the koruna. Given the twists and turns of history, however, part of the narrative relates to the joint Czechoslovak state, part to the occupied Protectorate and part to the independent Czech Republic. As a result, the original joint Czechoslovak currency was divided temporarily in 1939–1945 and then again – this time for good – in 1993. From that point on, the currencies of the two successor states went their own ways, the Czech koruna continuing to the present day and the Slovak koruna until it was replaced by the single European currency in 2009.