Commemorative banknote featuring a motif on the establishment of the Czechoslovak currency – Karel Engliš

Design for production – in Czech only

On 30 March 2022, the Czech National Bank is putting into circulation its second CZK 100 commemorative banknote featuring a motif on the establishment of the Czechoslovak currency. The note is 84 mm wide and 194 mm long. Deviations of 1.5 mm in both width and length are acceptable. The banknote is printed on natural-coloured paper with a localised stepped watermark, a white line watermark and a windowed security thread. The stepped watermark is located in the unprinted margin of the banknote (the coupon) and consists of a portrait of Karel Engliš. In addition to the stepped watermark featuring the portrait of Karel Engliš, a white line watermark consisting of the denomination “100” and an anemone flower is located towards the centre of the banknote. The 1.4 mm wide windowed security thread is embedded in the paper perpendicular to the longer side of the banknote along the entire width of the banknote – in the right-hand half when looking at the face side of the banknote. The recurring negative microtext “1880–1961” and two three-leaf clovers are visible on the thread against the light. The banknote has a front-to-back register consisting of lines and areas in a circle in the middle lower part of the print pattern on both the face and reverse side. Against the light, the lines and areas of the front-to-back register on the two sides of the banknote join to form the stylised letters “KE”. The paper used to print the banknote includes visible orange protective fibres about 6 mm long.

On the face side of the banknote, the left-hand part of the print pattern features a portrait of the Czechoslovak Minister of Finance and later Governor of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia Karel Engliš. It is intaglio printed in dark brown. The text “KAREL ENGLIŠ” is located to the left of the portrait and is also intaglio printed in dark brown. To the right of the portrait is the headquarters building of the Czech National Bank in Prague topped by a statue of the Genius with a Lion, which is offset printed in shades of green, ochre and brown. The statue is surrounded by lines of recurring positive and negative microtext containing the names of the central bank’s representatives in the years 1919–2022. A hologram featuring a motif of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Class III, 1990 version, with a portrait of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in profile facing to the left is located in the lower part of the building. The Silesian eagle is intaglio printed in shades of dark brown to the right of the building. Located near the lower margin of the banknote are the name of the designer “EVA HAŠKOVÁ INV.” on the left and the name of the engraver “MARTIN SRB SC.” on the right, both intaglio printed in tiny dark brown letters. The right-hand part of the print pattern contains two lines of text describing the denomination “STO KORUN ČESKÝCH” and below it two lines with the name of the issuing bank “ČESKÁ NÁRODNÍ BANKA”. The area of the letters of the word “STO” is filled with the recurring microtext “STO”. To the right of the hologram are the designation of the issuing bank’s representative “GUVERNÉR” and a facsimile of his signature. The year of issue of the banknote “2022” is situated below the text “GUVERNÉR”. All these texts are intaglio printed in dark brown. In the strip near the right-hand edge of the banknote is the number “100” in negative and the recurring microtext “100”. The underprint of the banknote is offset printed with a fine screen in shades of green, brown and ochre.

The denomination number “100” is intaglio printed in shades of green in the upper part of the coupon. The area of the numbers is filled with the recurring microtext “KE”. In a round area in the lower part of the coupon is an anemone flower intaglio printed in dark brown. A latent image showing a dark or light number “100” when tilted is located in the round area with the anemone flower.

The middle of the print pattern on the reverse side of the banknote features a sculptural group of two giants on the façade of the Clam-Gallas palace in Prague. The façade of the Clam-Gallas palace in Prague, the former headquarters of the Ministry of Finance of the Czechoslovak Republic, is printed to the left of the two giants. The large coat of arms of the Czech Republic is located to the left of the sculptural group. The façade of the Clam-Gallas palace, the sculptural group and the coat of arms are intaglio printed in dark brown. In a strip near the left-hand edge of the banknote is the number “100” in negative and the recurring microtext “100”. The text “PADĚLÁNÍ BANKOVEK SE TRESTÁ PODLE ZÁKONA” is situated below, running parallel to the lower edge of the banknote. Printed in tiny letters near the lower edge of the banknote are the inscription “© ČESKÁ NÁRODNÍ BANKA” on the left, “STÁTNÍ TISKÁRNA CENIN, STÁTNÍ PODNIK, PRAHA” in the middle and the name of the engraver “MARTIN SRB SC.” on the right. All these parts of the print pattern and the fill of the intaglio-printed contours are offset printed in shades of green, ochre, orange, brown and blue.

The denomination number “100” is intaglio printed in shades of green and ochre in the upper part of the coupon. The area of the numbers is filled with the recurring microtext “100”.

The series mark, consisting of two capital letters and two numbers, and the six-digit banknote serial number are printed horizontally bottom right on the coupon and vertically top left. Both the series mark and the banknote serial number are letterpress printed in black.