The Price of Silver, Inflation and Commemorative Coins

Today I have prepared three commemorative coins commemorating personalities of Czech culture. But I will also show something else on them. But I will mention these gentlemen after all.

Václav Hollar, Czech draughtsman, graphic artist and engraver. He emigrated to England during the Thirty Years' War(1618-1648) because of religious persecution.

Zdeněk Nejedlý. Literary historian and musicologist. Unfortunately, a communist. During the communist regime, minister of education and communist ideologist. The equivalent of Joseph Goebbels. He did a lot of bad things.

Karel Hynek Mácha. The most renowned Czech poet. The Czech equivalent of G.G. Byron and J.W. Goethe.

But I don't think anyone is particularly interested in the previous data. But look at the denominations of the coins, their weights, and the purity of the silver.

100 Czechoslovak Crowns (100 Kčs), 1977, Tricentenary of the death of Václav Hollar, diameter 33 mm, weight 15 g of silver, purity 700/1000, 100.000 pieces.

50 Czechoslovak Crowns (50 Kčs), 1975, Centenary of the birth of Zdeněk Nejedlý, diameter 31 mm, weight 13 g of silver, 700/1000, 80.000 pieces.

100 Czechoslovak Crowns (100 Kčs), 1986, One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the death of Karel Hynek Mácha, diameter 31 mm, weight 13 g of silver, 500/1000, 67.500 pieces

The 1986 100 crown is the same size and weight as the 1975 50 crown. But it contains 20% less silver.

These figures tell us about the price of silver during these years, but also about inflation and the success of our Communist Party-controlled economy. Only the communist star above the lion's head in the national emblem has been significantly enlarged.

I don't plan ahead what I'm going to write about. I'll get an idea and work it out, back it up with coins. I realize that I'm actually working on the history of my country between 1945 and 2023. It's surprising to myself how much can be read from coins.

I promised myself to write at least 24 articles by January 25. This is the eighteenth.