25 Korun

The 1958 series was part of a sweeping post-reform reissue following the brutal 1953 monetary reform, in which Czechoslovak citizens lost substantial savings overnight through a punishing conversion rate — 50 old crowns to 1 new for cash holdings above minimal amounts. Public trust in paper money had not recovered, and these notes circulated in an atmosphere of lingering resentment.

Karel Svolinský was a genuinely distinguished choice — a National Artist whose work spanned postage stamps, stained glass, and book illustration. Jindřich Schmidt's engraving for the Státní Tiskárna Cenin was precise work from a printer that had handled Czech security printing since the interwar republic.