Monetary sovereignty and trust in the koruna
The founding of the Czechoslovak Republic in October 1918 demanded the immediate establishment of monetary sovereignty. After an initial stamping of Austro-Hungarian banknotes (intended to keep inflation from the collapsed monarchy out of the country), the new National Bank of Czechoslovakia introduced a full-bodied hard currency backed by gold and foreign exchange. The key architects of this policy were the finance ministers Alois Rašín and Karel Engliš. The Czech National Bank marks the importance of their work today on the commemorative 100-koruna banknotes.
The silver coins put into circulation in the 1920s and 1930s were neither a numismatic nor a collector's act. They were a deliberate macroeconomic and psychological decision: after the hyperinflation shocks in Germany and Austria, Czechoslovakia needed to demonstrate the strength and soundness of its young economy tangibly, both to its own citizens and to international markets. The silver denominations of 5, 10 and 20 koruna were therefore brought into circulation in turn.
Fineness as an economic shield — insurance against Gresham's law
The fineness of the First Republic silver coins was not chosen at random. It strictly reflected the fluctuating price of silver on world commodity markets and the empirical need for the face value of a coin always to exceed safely the intrinsic value of its metal. Had the metal value crossed the face value, the merciless Gresham's law would have set in: the population would have withdrawn the “good” silver money from circulation, hoarded it, or melted it down outright and sold it as raw material.
For this reason the 5 koruna coins struck between 1928 and 1932 were made from an alloy of only 500/1000 Ag (half silver content) — weight 7.00 g, diameter 27 mm. This half silver content was the ideal compromise between prestige and economic safety.
For the higher denominations, however, the state opted for greater prestige. The 10 koruna coins struck between 1930 and 1933 contained silver of 700/1000 Ag fineness, weight 10.00 g, diameter 30 mm. The peak of the circulating coinage was the 20 koruna of 1933–1934 — 12 g of silver at 700/1000 fineness, diameter 34 mm.
The birth of Czechoslovak commemorative coinage
Although the silver pieces were intended primarily for hard everyday circulation, commemorative issues also appeared which de facto defined the beginning of modern Czechoslovak numismatics.
The first milestone was the commemorative 10 koruna 1928, issued for the tenth anniversary of the Republic's founding. The coin, bearing the portrait of the President-Liberator T. G. Masaryk, was a grand celebration of a successful decade of statehood. The second iconic strike was the 20 koruna of 1937, issued in homage to Masaryk's death.
Both coins were struck in the astronomical mintage of 1,000,000 pieces each. The intent is plain from this figure: this was not a rare collector's item for an elite, but a mass commemorative object. The state wanted the coin to reach every family from Aš to Subcarpathian Ruthenia — as a tangible symbol of national identity, unity and historical continuity.
The coins on today's secondary market
Thanks to their million-piece mintages, both commemorative issues survive in large numbers. Market price today strictly reflects grade. Reference estimates:
| Coin | Top grade (proof-like) | Lightly worn (XF–VF) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 koruna 1928 Masaryk | 180–200 CZK | 135–150 CZK |
| 20 koruna 1937 Masaryk | 200–250 CZK | 160–180 CZK |
Under the pressure of inflation and growing interest in physical silver, the value of flawless pieces is rising in real terms. For a detailed record of these strikes in our database, see the Czechoslovak Republic 1918–1939 register.
Summary table of First Republic circulating silver coins
| Denomination | Type | Years | Fineness | Weight | Diameter | Mintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 CZK | Circulation | 1928–1932 | 500/1000 Ag | 7,00 g | 27 mm | continuous |
| 10 CZK | Circulation | 1930–1933 | 700/1000 Ag | 10,00 g | 30 mm | continuous |
| 10 CZK | Commemorative (10 years of the ČSR) | 1928 | 700/1000 Ag | 10,00 g | 30 mm | 1,000,000 pcs |
| 20 CZK | Circulation | 1933–1934 | 700/1000 Ag | 12,00 g | 34 mm | continuous |
| 20 CZK | Commemorative (death of TGM) | 1937 | 700/1000 Ag | 12,00 g | 34 mm | 1,000,000 pcs |
What remains from the First Republic
First Republic silver was more than a means of payment. It was a declaration: this country has backing, has trust, has order. The economic foresight of Rašín and Engliš — fineness tuned to the silver price, face value always above the intrinsic metal value — is being recalled by the central bank again a century on. The ducats of 2024–2026 and the commemorative 100 koruna for Rašín or Engliš are not merely a historical gesture; they are an attempt to connect modern issuing policy to the legitimacy of the interwar koruna.
If you would like to see these coins in our database, open the First Republic register. The Czechoslovak Republic coins of 1918–1939 are marked in our application as a historical record — we do not sell them as part of the regular range, but we record their specifications for the full context of Czechoslovak numismatics.