Slovak currency. Banknotes of the state in different historical periods

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

To date, the official currency of Slovakia is the euro. But back in 2009, the Slovak crown was used on the territory of the state. Slovakia became independent in 1993, and at the same time the national currency was put into circulation. It was used until the transition of the state to the European currency and joining the so-called eurozone.

History of Slovak currency

Starting from the 11th century, the Slovak state was part of Hungary. It is not surprising that the first monetary unit in this country was the Hungarian forint. From 1867 to 1918, Slovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Austrian guilders were used in circulation on its territory. This continued until 1892, when Austro-Hungarian crowns were put into circulation.

After the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, a united state was formed - Czechoslovakia. A new monetary unit was introduced into circulation, which was named the Czechoslovak krone. Already in 1938, as a result of the Munich Agreement, or, as it is also called, the "Munich Pact", Czechoslovakia was dismembered. Slovakia became a separate state under the control of Nazi Germany. In 1939 incirculation was launched own national currency of Slovakia - the Slovak krone.

Use your own currency

It will be worth noting that at first the new currency was the old Czechoslovak crowns with the inscription “Slovak state” applied in a printed way. Subsequently, the Slovak krone was called the state tickets of the Slovak Republic. In the last period of its circulation, the currency was called the banknote of the National Bank of Slovakia. At that time, the exchange of Czechoslovak money for new crowns was carried out in a ratio of one to one. The Slovak currency was pegged to the German mark at a rate of ten to one. That is, for ten Slovak crowns you could get one Reichsmark.

Slovak currency after the end of World War II

What was the currency of Slovakia after the end of World War II? The Czechoslovak state was restored, and Slovak crowns began to be withdrawn from free circulation. They were replaced by a common monetary unit - the Czechoslovak krone. And only after Slovakia gained independence and sovereignty in 1993, the Slovak crown received a new life. As a monetary unit of the young state, it was used for 16 years. At that time, the exchange of the Slovak crown for the Czechoslovak was carried out at the rate of one to one. The Slovak krone in the last period of its existence had the international designation Skk. One crown consisted of one hundred hellers. Coins in denominations of ten, twenty and fifty hellers were used in circulation, andalso one, two, five and ten crowns.

The National Bank of Slovakia issued banknotes several times. So, the first issued banknote of the Slovak national currency was a denomination of 50 crowns. It entered circulation on August 29, 1993. Subsequently, four more denominations were issued. The first issue ended in 1995. Then banknotes in denominations of two hundred and five hundred crowns came into circulation. The currency of Slovakia to the euro was modified several more times. So, new banknotes were issued in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

Introduction of the euro

In 2004 Slovakia joined the European Union. After that, the national government took a course to prepare the economy for entry into the eurozone. At the time of the transition to a common European currency, banknotes of the Slovak crown were used in denominations of twenty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand and five thousand. In 2009, the Slovak state completely switched to the euro and the Slovak crowns began to be withdrawn from circulation. The exchange ratio was 1 to 30, 13. That is, for 1 euro it was necessary to give 30 crowns and 13 hellers. Since 2009, the currency of Slovakia has been the euro.