Czechoslovakian Coins

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Ancient History
Much of what is now the Czech Republic was known as Bohemia at various times in history, named for the Boii tribe who once lived in the area during the 2nd Century BC. To the Romans, the general area was known as Boihaemum. The word 'Czech' is derived from 'Cechy' the name of a Slavic tribe who settled in the area during the 6th or 7th Century A.D.
Between 833 and 902 AD, the area was part of the Great Moravian Empire, which also included present day Slovakia, Hungary, and parts of Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Ukraine and Croatia. This was dissolved and reduced to various constituent parts throughout the 10th Century, including Bohemia.

Middle Ages
When the Moravian Empire dissolved, the Duchy of Bohemia emerged as a separate state. The Duchy was elevated to the status of kingdom in 1198 under Ottokar I. For most of its history, the Kingdom of Bohemia was a vassal state of the Holy Roman Empire, despite the fact that the local population was mostly Slavic, rather than German, as was the case of most of the subjects of the Holy Roman Empire.
Often a centre of religious dissent from the Catholic Church even before Martin Luther, the Hussites emerged in the early 15th Century, inspired by Jan Hus, a renegade Catholic Priest turned reformer who inspired his followers and admirers to rebel against papal authority. Later, in the 16th Century, Lutheranism gained a strong foothold amongst the Bohemian/Czech population, although Catholicism retained a strong following as well. This sometimes brought the protestant population into conflict with the staunchly Catholic Holy Roman Emperors during the Hussite Wars and the 30 Years War.

Hapsburgs
In 1526, Ferdinand Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria, inherited the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary via his wife Anne, the sister of Louis II who had been killed in Battle against the Ottomans. Ferdinand later became Holy Roman Emperor and thus the Kingdom of Bohemia was incorporated fully into the Hapsburg Empire (which became the Austrian Empire in 1806 and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867).
Although Bohemia was theoretically a separate kingdom until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, it was effectively administrated as part of Austria, rather than Hungary, which had its own Parliament from 1867. During World War One, disgruntled Czech nationalists left the Austro Hungarian Empire to fight in the Russian army against Austria Hungary, and the Czech Legion, caught in Russia during the Russian Revolution, played a famous part in the Russian Civil War afterwards as they battled their way east (mostly against the Bolsheviks) to Vladivostok in order to return to their homeland.

Czechoslovakia
Following the collapse of Austria Hungary, the Czechs entered into a union with the Slovaks to form Czechoslovakia. The Slovaks were fellow Slavs, although they were linguistically and culturally distinct. In 1938, Nazi Germany pressured Czechoslovakia to hand over the mountainous Sudetenland, which was predominantly populated by ethnic Germans. Following an agreement at Munich, in which British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and the French agreed not to go to war against Germany if the Germans annexed the Sudetenland, the Germans subsequently occupied the area. , a few months later, in March 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, with most of Czech lands becoming directly administered by the Germans. Slovakia was set up as a puppet state.

Post War
Following the Second World War, Czechoslovakia fell under the domination of the Soviet Union, who installed a puppet Communist regime into power. The majority of ethnic Germans were expelled from the reconstituted Czechoslovakia.
Although Czechoslovakia was under Communist rule, it remained relatively prosperous, at least compared with the rest of its Warsaw Pact Neighbours. However, it did start to fall behind the West economically, until in 1989, the Velvet Revolution saw the break-up of the Warsaw Pact, followed by the breakup of the Soviet Union 3 years later.

Czech Republic
In 1992, rising nationalism in the Slovakian portion of the country led to the break-up of Czechoslovakia. The late Václav Havel, the first president of post-communist Czechoslovakia, resigned upon the Slovakian Declaration of Independence saying that he had been elected as president of Czechoslovakia and not the proposed Czech Republic.
However, he would be elected president of the Czech Republic Again in 1993.

Coinage of the Czech Republic
Throughout the middle Ages until the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, coins used in the area now known as the Czech Republic were similar to those used in Austria. The Thaler (Dollar) coin was first struck in the Czech town of Joachimsthal, struck from the silver mined in the surrounding area in the 16th Century.
Following the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the Czechoslovakia Koruna (similar to the Austrian Krone) was introduced in 1919, subdivides into 100 halir (heller). The lowest denomination coin, the 2h, was struck in zinc, the 5 and 10h in bronze. The 20, 25 and 50h and 1 koruna were struck in cupronickel. A 5 Koruna was also struck in cupronickel until 1928, when a silver 5 koruna coin was introduced. This lasted until 1938, when, perhaps because of the impending war, the coin alloy reverted to cupronickel.
The following year, the first Czechoslovakian Koruna was replaced with separate Koruna for Bohemia and Moravia, as well as Slovakia. Following the semi-liberation of Czechoslovakia, a new Czechoslovakian Koruna was introduced, which lasted until 1993, when the Czech Koruna replaced the Czech Koruna at par.
Today coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 koruna are struck for circulation (higher denominations are issued in banknote form). Within the next few years, the Czech Government plans to introduce the Euro to replace the koruna, although Euro scepticism within the Czech Republic is strong and it is not a foregone conclusion that she will ever adopt the Euro.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from Czechoslovakia please see our product index:-
Czechoslovakian Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from Czechoslovakia on our taxfreegold website:-
Czechoslovakian Gold Coins