Money, Money, Money: Czech Currency
If you wanted to give someone a quick crash course in American history and civics, you might start by walking them through American money. The images a country puts on its currency and coins often say a lot about what they value, how they see themselves, and, to be more cynical, how they wish to be seen. American money is famously limited and monotone--all famous men, mostly Presidents--though that is set to change in the coming years with the (correct and proper) replacement of Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill.
Here in Czechia, they take a more broad-minded approach.
The Czech crown (koruna česká, hence the symbol "kč") is currently valued at about 21 kč to the US dollar, and while smaller units formerly existed (called haléřů) they have been withdrawn, and the smallest unit is the 1 kč coin (though smaller untis they still "exist" digitally and appear in prices).
So, what's on the money?
Well, as you can see, the front side of all of the coins is essentially identical--the Czech two-tailed lion, the year, and the words "ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA." The reverse sides, however, all feature different decorations. The 1 kč coin features the Crown of St. Wenceslaus, part of the Crown Jewels of Bohemia, which have all sorts of stories and legends around them--but that's a blog post for another day.
The 2 kč coin features an image of an archaeological find: namely, a decorative button dating back to the Great Moravian Empire.
The Great Moravian Empire, the first true dynasty among the Slavic peoples, existed for less than a hundred years, collapsing shortly after 900 CE. We know depressingly little about it, however. Historians debate the nature of the empire, its size, and even its exact location, though general consensus places it somewhere in the area of modern Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. It was during this period that Saints Cyril and Methodious began to Christianize the Slavs, introducing the first Slavic alphabet in the process. (St. Cyril gives his name to the Cyrillic alphabet family.) By featuring a Great Moravian artifact on its coinage, Czechia here hearkens back to an almost mythic time when the Slavs were born.
More straightforwardly, the 5 kč coin has an image of the Charles Bridge and the Vlatava Ricer, along with an image of the linden (or lime) tree, which is a national symbol. The linden is actually a Slavic symbol, generally, and is found in legends and names from Sweden (Lindstrom, etc.) to Croatia.
The "silver" coins--which are actually nickel-plated steel here give way to a copper-plated coin. Also, as the 5 kč coin shows Prague, the 10 kč on shows Czechia's second city, Brno--namely, the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, a city and national landmark.
Coated in brass, the 20 kč coin depicts St. Wenceslaus. Well, specifically, it depicts the statue of St. Wenceslaus which stands in Prague at the Square that bears his name.
The statue, which was debuted in the early part of the 20th century to replace another, previous statue of the patron saint, stands in front of the National Museum and is surrounded by statues of four other Czech patron saints. The inscription on the statue is also on the coin, reading, "SVATÝ VÁCLAVE NEDEJ ZAHYNOUT NÁM I BUDOUCÍM," which roughly translates as, "St. Wenceslaus, Duke of the Czech Lands, Prince of Ours, do not let us or our descendants perish."
The two-tone 50 kč piece (copper outer ring, brass inner circle) features a sort of fantasy image of Prague, with numerous Prague landmarks all smushed together and on top of one another. One the outer edge is the Latin motto, "PRAGA MATER URBIUM," or "Prague, Mother of Cities," one of many that have been applied to Prague over the years.
The paper currency has also seen a reduction in variety over the years, with the 20 kč and 50 kč bills being taken out of circulation in the past few years--only in America, do we cling to bills instead of coins.
The 20 and the 50 featured, respectively, Ottokar I (the first King of Bohemia) and his daugther, St. Agnes of Bohemia (whose cloister is now a museum).
The smallest denomination of paper currency still in use is the 100 koruna note, featuring your friend and mine, Charles IV in front of an image of the vaulted ceilings of St. Vitus Cathedral. On the reverse is the Great Seal of Charles University. Charles IV is hugely important and is one of three men variously called "The Father of the Nation," but he's already gotten his own post, so enough about him.
So far, we've essentially had some royals on the money. With the 200, however, we start getting more interesting. That heavily bearded man is Jan Amos Komenský (1592-1670, often discussed under his Latinized name John Amos Comenius), an influential early modern era educational reformer from Moravia. Komenský argued for universal education (regardless of class or gender), making education a pleasure rather than a chore, structuring education around a progression from simple ideas to complex concepts, and giving children an education in the physical and practical in addition to the traditional medieval focus on just the liberal arts. He was also the first person who wrote textbooks in native languages (instead of Latin) and who included illustrations to help children understand the material being discussed. For all these ideas, which he put into practice in several European countries--and almost in America when he was apparently invited to be president of Harvard (!)--he is considered the Father of Modern Education, and we're arguably still trying to put his principles into practice today. The reverse side has an image of an adult hand reaching down to a child's hand, symbolizing education, as well as a copy of Komenský's Orbis Pictus (The World in Pictures), his famous illustrated textbook.
Komenský's work has had a huge influence outside the Czech speaking lands. The work of Božena Němcová, on the other hand, is essentially unknown outside this part of the world, but is considered important enough to secure her a place on the 500. Němcová (1820-1862) was a writer of pastoral stories of life in the Bohemian countryside, as well as fairy tales, which are hugely important in Czech culture. Part of the Czech National Revival movement that produced so many artists and politicians, Němcová's most famous novel is Babička (The Grandmother), a fictionalized account of her own childhood in the countryside with her Bohemian grandmother. The reverse of the 500 shows a woman surrounded by leaves, essentially representing all of the women in Němcová's stories.
Perhaps the most important single figure in the Czech National Revival movement was the historian and politician František Palacký (1798-1876), earning him a place on the 1000. Palacký is the second of the three men called "Father of the Nation," and indeed many places in Czechia have streets and squares named after him--Palackého this and Palackého that are everywhere. Palacký was a historian by training, and he become well placed within revivalist circles, editing publications and gaining support from sympathetic local nobility. His greatest work, Dějiny národu českého v Čechách a v Moravě (The History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia), created after years of effort researching primary sources all over Europe, details the history of the Czech people until their loss of any independence to the at the time still-ruling Hapsburgs in 1526. Even though he specifically ended his history in 1526 to avoid having to lie about Hapsburg rule and re-Catholicization of Bohemia, the censors still made deletions and additions to his book, which wasn't published in its original form for almost forty years. As for the book itself, its reputation is still quite good, with multiple editions being available from Amazon. The reverse side of the note highlights Palacký's political activism. The eagle, a nation symbol for both Moravia and Silesia (the two parts of modern Czechia that aren't Bohemia) blends into an image of Kroměříž Castle, site of a major meeting among Czech Revivalist figures to determine what their position should be regarding the Austrian Empire.
The theme of artists with strong Czech nationalist sympathies continues on the 2000, with operatic soprano Emmy Destinn (1878-1930, Ema Destinova in Czech) featured prominently, alongside images of music as well as Euterpe, the Muse of lyric poetry and, by extension, music more generally. Destinn was a great soprano around the turn of the last century, performing both in Europe and at the Met in New York, often singing alongside Caruso, and originating roles in Struass' Salome as well as Puccini's La fanciulla del West. Here she is in one of her most famous roles--Carmen:
However, when Destinn returned to Prague after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, her connections and sympathy with the Czech resistance and independence movements led the Austrian Empire to revoke her passport and place her under house arrest until the end of the war. By the time she returned to the Met after the war, her voice had started to fade and the crowds had moved on to the next great diva. She married what I can only describe as a dashing Czech Air Force pilot in 1923, retired from the stage in 1926, and seemed to enjoy a happy life until her early death in 1930.
The highest denomination still in use is the 5000 koruna note and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it features the third and final man to be called "Father of the Nation," Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.
I've already written a bit about Masaryk before, and he will definitely be getting his own post soon. For now, it will suffice to repeat that he was instrumental in convincing the Allied powers that the Treaty of Versailles that ended First World War should include provision for an independent Czechoslovakia. He thereafter became the nation's first president and remained hugely popular until he died a few years before the Nazi occupation. The reverse of the note essentially mimics the reverse of the 50 koruna coin, showing a sort of imagined mish-mash of Prague landmarks.
HOWEVER, in literally a matter of days, a new commemorative 100 koruna note is being introduced. Timing!
Intended primarily for collectors (which means I may never see one in regular circulation), the new note celebrates 100 years of the Czech koruna. On the front is Alois Rašín, a former radical who, after receiving a death sentence from the Austrian Empire during World War I for his separatist activities, eventually had his sentence commuted and became the first Finance Minister of the new Czechoslovakia, introducing the nation's new currency. His policy of keeping the currency strong (read: in limited supply) to avoid the massive inflation that was causing chaos with the nation's neighbors made him very unpopular, and he only served one year. He was brought back in 1922, but again, his policies proved widely unpopular, and he was assassinated by an anarchist in early 1923. (Blogger's note: Yikes!) Also featured is the current building of the Czech National Bank, which controls the supply of currency, and on the back, Schebek Palace, the building that served as the Banking Office for the Ministry of Finance in the early republic, along with the female representation of the republic.
I haven't thought of a clever way of ending this, so here's a recording of Emmy Destinn and another famous singer of the day dueting on what would become the Czech national anthem. Enjoy!
Become a Patron!
Here in Czechia, they take a more broad-minded approach.
 |
| As well as a more colorful one... |
The Czech crown (koruna česká, hence the symbol "kč") is currently valued at about 21 kč to the US dollar, and while smaller units formerly existed (called haléřů) they have been withdrawn, and the smallest unit is the 1 kč coin (though smaller untis they still "exist" digitally and appear in prices).
 |
| Coins from 1-50 kč. Contrary to this photo, they are of different sizes, with the least valuable being the smallest and the 50 kč coin being the biggest. Sensible! |
So, what's on the money?
Well, as you can see, the front side of all of the coins is essentially identical--the Czech two-tailed lion, the year, and the words "ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA." The reverse sides, however, all feature different decorations. The 1 kč coin features the Crown of St. Wenceslaus, part of the Crown Jewels of Bohemia, which have all sorts of stories and legends around them--but that's a blog post for another day.
 |
| The Crown of St. Wenceslaus, which, confusingly, never belonged to St. Wenceslaus. |
The 2 kč coin features an image of an archaeological find: namely, a decorative button dating back to the Great Moravian Empire.
The Great Moravian Empire, the first true dynasty among the Slavic peoples, existed for less than a hundred years, collapsing shortly after 900 CE. We know depressingly little about it, however. Historians debate the nature of the empire, its size, and even its exact location, though general consensus places it somewhere in the area of modern Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. It was during this period that Saints Cyril and Methodious began to Christianize the Slavs, introducing the first Slavic alphabet in the process. (St. Cyril gives his name to the Cyrillic alphabet family.) By featuring a Great Moravian artifact on its coinage, Czechia here hearkens back to an almost mythic time when the Slavs were born.
More straightforwardly, the 5 kč coin has an image of the Charles Bridge and the Vlatava Ricer, along with an image of the linden (or lime) tree, which is a national symbol. The linden is actually a Slavic symbol, generally, and is found in legends and names from Sweden (Lindstrom, etc.) to Croatia.
The "silver" coins--which are actually nickel-plated steel here give way to a copper-plated coin. Also, as the 5 kč coin shows Prague, the 10 kč on shows Czechia's second city, Brno--namely, the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, a city and national landmark.
Coated in brass, the 20 kč coin depicts St. Wenceslaus. Well, specifically, it depicts the statue of St. Wenceslaus which stands in Prague at the Square that bears his name.
The statue, which was debuted in the early part of the 20th century to replace another, previous statue of the patron saint, stands in front of the National Museum and is surrounded by statues of four other Czech patron saints. The inscription on the statue is also on the coin, reading, "SVATÝ VÁCLAVE NEDEJ ZAHYNOUT NÁM I BUDOUCÍM," which roughly translates as, "St. Wenceslaus, Duke of the Czech Lands, Prince of Ours, do not let us or our descendants perish."
The two-tone 50 kč piece (copper outer ring, brass inner circle) features a sort of fantasy image of Prague, with numerous Prague landmarks all smushed together and on top of one another. One the outer edge is the Latin motto, "PRAGA MATER URBIUM," or "Prague, Mother of Cities," one of many that have been applied to Prague over the years.
The paper currency has also seen a reduction in variety over the years, with the 20 kč and 50 kč bills being taken out of circulation in the past few years--only in America, do we cling to bills instead of coins.
 |
| A good way to learn numbers--"dvacet" is 20, etc... |
The 20 and the 50 featured, respectively, Ottokar I (the first King of Bohemia) and his daugther, St. Agnes of Bohemia (whose cloister is now a museum).
The smallest denomination of paper currency still in use is the 100 koruna note, featuring your friend and mine, Charles IV in front of an image of the vaulted ceilings of St. Vitus Cathedral. On the reverse is the Great Seal of Charles University. Charles IV is hugely important and is one of three men variously called "The Father of the Nation," but he's already gotten his own post, so enough about him.
So far, we've essentially had some royals on the money. With the 200, however, we start getting more interesting. That heavily bearded man is Jan Amos Komenský (1592-1670, often discussed under his Latinized name John Amos Comenius), an influential early modern era educational reformer from Moravia. Komenský argued for universal education (regardless of class or gender), making education a pleasure rather than a chore, structuring education around a progression from simple ideas to complex concepts, and giving children an education in the physical and practical in addition to the traditional medieval focus on just the liberal arts. He was also the first person who wrote textbooks in native languages (instead of Latin) and who included illustrations to help children understand the material being discussed. For all these ideas, which he put into practice in several European countries--and almost in America when he was apparently invited to be president of Harvard (!)--he is considered the Father of Modern Education, and we're arguably still trying to put his principles into practice today. The reverse side has an image of an adult hand reaching down to a child's hand, symbolizing education, as well as a copy of Komenský's Orbis Pictus (The World in Pictures), his famous illustrated textbook.
Komenský's work has had a huge influence outside the Czech speaking lands. The work of Božena Němcová, on the other hand, is essentially unknown outside this part of the world, but is considered important enough to secure her a place on the 500. Němcová (1820-1862) was a writer of pastoral stories of life in the Bohemian countryside, as well as fairy tales, which are hugely important in Czech culture. Part of the Czech National Revival movement that produced so many artists and politicians, Němcová's most famous novel is Babička (The Grandmother), a fictionalized account of her own childhood in the countryside with her Bohemian grandmother. The reverse of the 500 shows a woman surrounded by leaves, essentially representing all of the women in Němcová's stories.
Perhaps the most important single figure in the Czech National Revival movement was the historian and politician František Palacký (1798-1876), earning him a place on the 1000. Palacký is the second of the three men called "Father of the Nation," and indeed many places in Czechia have streets and squares named after him--Palackého this and Palackého that are everywhere. Palacký was a historian by training, and he become well placed within revivalist circles, editing publications and gaining support from sympathetic local nobility. His greatest work, Dějiny národu českého v Čechách a v Moravě (The History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia), created after years of effort researching primary sources all over Europe, details the history of the Czech people until their loss of any independence to the at the time still-ruling Hapsburgs in 1526. Even though he specifically ended his history in 1526 to avoid having to lie about Hapsburg rule and re-Catholicization of Bohemia, the censors still made deletions and additions to his book, which wasn't published in its original form for almost forty years. As for the book itself, its reputation is still quite good, with multiple editions being available from Amazon. The reverse side of the note highlights Palacký's political activism. The eagle, a nation symbol for both Moravia and Silesia (the two parts of modern Czechia that aren't Bohemia) blends into an image of Kroměříž Castle, site of a major meeting among Czech Revivalist figures to determine what their position should be regarding the Austrian Empire.
The theme of artists with strong Czech nationalist sympathies continues on the 2000, with operatic soprano Emmy Destinn (1878-1930, Ema Destinova in Czech) featured prominently, alongside images of music as well as Euterpe, the Muse of lyric poetry and, by extension, music more generally. Destinn was a great soprano around the turn of the last century, performing both in Europe and at the Met in New York, often singing alongside Caruso, and originating roles in Struass' Salome as well as Puccini's La fanciulla del West. Here she is in one of her most famous roles--Carmen:
However, when Destinn returned to Prague after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, her connections and sympathy with the Czech resistance and independence movements led the Austrian Empire to revoke her passport and place her under house arrest until the end of the war. By the time she returned to the Met after the war, her voice had started to fade and the crowds had moved on to the next great diva. She married what I can only describe as a dashing Czech Air Force pilot in 1923, retired from the stage in 1926, and seemed to enjoy a happy life until her early death in 1930.
 |
| The happy couple looking rather adorable with their cats. |
The highest denomination still in use is the 5000 koruna note and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it features the third and final man to be called "Father of the Nation," Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.
I've already written a bit about Masaryk before, and he will definitely be getting his own post soon. For now, it will suffice to repeat that he was instrumental in convincing the Allied powers that the Treaty of Versailles that ended First World War should include provision for an independent Czechoslovakia. He thereafter became the nation's first president and remained hugely popular until he died a few years before the Nazi occupation. The reverse of the note essentially mimics the reverse of the 50 koruna coin, showing a sort of imagined mish-mash of Prague landmarks.
HOWEVER, in literally a matter of days, a new commemorative 100 koruna note is being introduced. Timing!
Intended primarily for collectors (which means I may never see one in regular circulation), the new note celebrates 100 years of the Czech koruna. On the front is Alois Rašín, a former radical who, after receiving a death sentence from the Austrian Empire during World War I for his separatist activities, eventually had his sentence commuted and became the first Finance Minister of the new Czechoslovakia, introducing the nation's new currency. His policy of keeping the currency strong (read: in limited supply) to avoid the massive inflation that was causing chaos with the nation's neighbors made him very unpopular, and he only served one year. He was brought back in 1922, but again, his policies proved widely unpopular, and he was assassinated by an anarchist in early 1923. (Blogger's note: Yikes!) Also featured is the current building of the Czech National Bank, which controls the supply of currency, and on the back, Schebek Palace, the building that served as the Banking Office for the Ministry of Finance in the early republic, along with the female representation of the republic.
I haven't thought of a clever way of ending this, so here's a recording of Emmy Destinn and another famous singer of the day dueting on what would become the Czech national anthem. Enjoy!
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