50 Korun

Czechoslovakia declared independence in October 1918 and needed paper currency almost immediately. This 50 Korun was issued in 1919 as part of the first sovereign series, printed domestically by A. Haase in Prague — a firm with roots going back to the late eighteenth century that had previously served the Austro-Hungarian administration in Bohemia. The choice of a local printer was partly practical, partly political: the new state had to demonstrate it could produce its own money.

The Haase firm's long history in commercial printing meant the technical capacity was there, but the note still reflects the constraints of a newly independent state working quickly under postwar conditions.