Czechoslovak koruna

Czechoslovak koruna
koruna československá (Czech/Slovak)
ISO 4217 code	CSK
User(s)	Czechoslovakia Prot. Bohemia and Moravia (1939) Slovakia (1939)  Czech Republic (1993)  Slovakia (1993)
Inflation	57.9%
Source	World Bank, 1991[1]
Subunit
1/100	halíř (Czech) halier (Slovak)
Symbol	Kčs
halíř (Czech) halier (Slovak)	h
Plural	The language(s) of this currency belong(s) to the Slavic languages. There is more than one way to construct plural forms. See article.
Coins
Freq. used	20, 50 h; 1, 2, 5 Kčs
Rarely used	5, 10 h; 3, 10 Kčs
Banknotes
Freq. used	10, 20, 50, 100, 1000 Kčs
Rarely used	500 Kčs
Central bank	Státní Banka Československá (State Bank of Czechoslovakia)
Printer	Státní tiskárna cenin (State Securities Printer, Prague)
Website	www.stc.cz
Mint	Mincovňa Kremnica (Kremnica Mint)
Website	www.mint.sk
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

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 acronyms for the koruna were CSK and Kčs. One koruna equalled 100 haléřů (Czech, singular: haléř) or halierov (Slovak, singular: halier). In both languages, the abbreviation h was used. The acronym was placed behind the numeric value.

First koruna

A currency called the Krone in German 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.

Coins

Main article: Coins of the Czechoslovak koruna (1919)

Banknotes

Main article: Banknotes of the Czechoslovak koruna (1919)

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.

Coins

Main article: Coins of the Czechoslovak koruna (1945)

Banknotes

Main article: Banknotes of the Czechoslovak koruna (1945)

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. Both currencies will be replaced by the Euro as quickly as their respective countries meet the criteria for economic convergence or there is the political will to do so – the Slovak koruna was replaced by the Euro on 1 January 2009, the latest forecast is for the Czech Koruna to be replaced in 2013.

Coins

Main article: Coins of the Czechoslovak koruna (1953)

Banknotes

Main article: Banknotes of the Czechoslovak koruna (1953)

Consumer price index

Consumer price index

Year	CPI[1]
1980	2.9
1981	0.8
1982	5.1
1983	0.9
1984	0.5
1985	2.7
1986	0.5
1987	0.1
1988	0.2
1989	1.4
1990	10.0
1991	57.9
1992	11.0[2]

See also

• Czech koruna
• Slovak koruna
• Bohemian and Moravian koruna

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Inflation in Czechoslovakia 1985–91, World Bank
2. ^ IMF World Economic Outlook, May 1998 Statistical Appendix

• Krause, Chester L. and Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed. ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501. 
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9. 

External links

• Czechoslovak banknotes (catalog, gallery and other details)