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20 Korun 1919
| Issuer | Ministerstvo Financí (Ministry of Finance) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Korun |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Blue and olive note with four female head vignettes set in circular frames at the corners and centre sides, each rendered in an Art Nouveau style characteristic of Mucha. The central panel carries the denomination numeral '20' at top and bottom, with the large letterpress legend 'DVACET KORUN' in olive-brown ink. Series and serial number appear at left and right respectively, with the issue date 'V PRAZE, DNE 15 DUBNA 1919' and the minister's facsimile signature below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | REPUBLIKA ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ DVACET KORUN ZWANZIG KRONEN DVADSAŤ KORÚN DWADZIEŚCIA KORON ДВАДЦЯТЬ КОРОН HÚSZ KORONA |
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| Comments |
This note holds a specific place in Czech cultural history not for its denomination but for its designer. Alfons Mucha, by 1919 one of the most internationally recognized graphic artists alive, contributed designs for several of the new Czechoslovak state's first banknotes — a deliberate act of nation-building through art at a moment when the republic was barely months old, having emerged from the Habsburg collapse in October 1918.
The Ministry of Finance, rather than a central bank, served as issuer because Czechoslovakia's banking institutions were still being constituted. Emergency printing was handled domestically in Prague under considerable logistical pressure, as the new state needed to establish a distinct currency fast to prevent Austrian and Hungarian notes from dominating circulation.
Mucha took no fee for his banknote work — he considered it a gift to his country.