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500 Korun 1993, Czech Republic

in Krause book Number: 7
Years of issue: 21.07.1993
Edition:
Signatures: Guverner: Josef Tošovský (20.1.1993 – 17.12.1997)
Serie: 1993 Issue
Specimen of: 25.04.1993
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 152 х 69
Printer: STC-Prague. Statni Tiskarna Cenin, Praha

* All pictures marked magnify are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

500 Korun 1993

Description

Watermark:

watermark

Božena Němcová.

Avers:

500 Korun 1993

On 21 July 1993, CZK 500 banknotes of the 1993 design (hereinafter the "banknote") are issued.

The banknote is 69 mm. wide and 152 mm. long. The permissible tolerance in its width and length is ± 1.5 mm. The banknote is printed on naturally colored paper with a local stepped watermark and a protective window strip.

The stepped watermark is placed on the 41 mm. wide unprinted edge of the banknote (hereinafter referred to as the "coupon") and consists of a portrait of Božena Němcová.

A protective window strip 1.4 mm. wide is embedded in the paper perpendicular to the longer side of the banknote along its entire width, when viewed from the front side approximately in one third of the length of the banknote. On the obverse side of the banknote, parts of a strip of silver color in the length of 5 mm., on which the negative microtext "500 CZK" can be read from the bottom up, always protrude 5 mm. on the surface of the paper.

The banknote bears a security registration mark in the form of the letter "C", in which the letter "S" is inserted. Its upper part printed in brown is visible on the front side of the banknote at the top left in the upper part of the printing pattern, the lower part on the reverse side of the banknote in the upper right part of the printing pattern. The entire registration mark is visible from both sides of the banknote in a view against the light. When viewed from the reverse of the banknote, the security registration mark is turned sideways.

On the obverse of the banknote, in the right part of the printed image, is a portrait of the writer Božena Němcová. It is printed from the depths in brown in two shades. The name "BOŽENA NĚMCOVÁ" is placed in two lines at the top right of the portrait. It is also printed in brown in depth. Above the arm of the portrait is an ornamental surface for a hidden pattern, which at a certain angle of incidence of light creates a dark or light number "500". From the portrait on the right, a richer strip of brown color extending into the 5 mm wide unprinted edge runs parallel to the longer sides of the banknote. The number "500" is negatively marked on the belt from top to bottom. To the left of the number, the rose flower is also depicted negatively on the ribbon. The strip, number and rose flower are printed by printing from the surface. In the upper right corner of the banknote is a tactile mark for the blind and partially sighted. The mark consists of three vertical strips measuring 1 x 8 mm, which are 6 mm apart. The tactile mark is printed in depth in brown. At the lower edge of the banknote on the left, the name of the author of the banknote design "O. KULHÁNEK INV." Is printed in small print in depth in brown, and also the name of the author of the engraved transcript of the banknote design "V. FAJT SC."

In the left part of the print pattern there is a text in two lines verbally indicating the nominal value of the banknote "FIVE SET CZECH CROWNS", below it the name of the issuing bank "ČESKÁ NÁRODNÍ BANKA" is given in two lines. Under the name of the issuing bank is a facsimile of the signature of the Governor of the Czech National Bank. The designation of the representative of the issuing bank with the word "GOVERNOR" is placed under the facsimile of his signature. The year of issue of the "1993" banknote is located at the top of the printing pattern to the right of the coupon under the registration mark. All the above texts are printed in depth printing in brown. The background of the text shows a flower of a developed rose in red. The background is printed by printing from a small raster area in several shades of brown in combination with the color red in the background.

At the top of the coupon, a large distinctive number "500" indicating the face value of the banknote is printed in depth printing in brown. The color of the number has a lighter shade in the upper part, which in the lower part changes smoothly into a shade of dark brown. The area of ​​the digits is filled with a small raster. (www.zakonyprolidi.cz)

Božena Němcová

Božena Němcová (4 February 1820[citation needed] in Vienna – 21 January 1862 in Prague) was a Czech writer of the final phase of the Czech National Revival movement.

According to the dating up to now accepted by the majority of Czech authors, Božena Němcová was born in 1820 as Barbara Pankel (or Barbora Panklová according to the usual Czech name-giving for women) in Vienna as a daughter of Johann Pankel from Lower Austria and Teresie Novotná, a maid of Bohemian origin. In her childhood she lived near the small town of Ratibořice, where her grandmother Magdalena Novotná played an important part in her life. Němcová would later write her most famous novel with the main character inspired by her grandmother.

When she was 17 years old, she married Josef Němec, fifteen years her senior, who worked as a customs officer and was therefore a state employee. The marriage was arranged by Barbora's parents and became an unhappy one, as the married couple did not understand each other very well. Němec was said to be a rude and authoritarian man. He was a Bohemian patriot, which did not sit well with his superiors, and he was often transferred to different locations and later lost his job. The couple had four children and suffered from a lack of money. Němcová died in poverty, estranged from her husband. She is said to have been in an intimate relationship with the poet Václav Bolemír Nebeský. The Bohemian patriots arranged a magnificent funeral for her.

Some authors question the birthdate (the preserved documents differ) and the real origin of Božena Němcová. According to one hypothesis, Němcová could have been born three to four years earlier than previously thought, and been an illegitimate daughter of Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan (1781–1839). Helena Sobková, a writer of popular-history books about Němcová, believes that Němcová may actually have been the niece of Wilhelmine. In 1816 an illegitimate daughter was born to Wilhelmine's younger sister, Dorothée de Talleyrand-Périgord, and Count Karel Jan Clam-Martinic (1792–1840) in Bourbon-l'Archambault (a French spa). The child was not officially recognized by its mother; it was registered as Marie-Henriette Dessalles. The child's further fate is unknown, and it is possible that Duchess Wilhelmine of Sagan later gave the girl to Němcová's parents to raise her as their own child under the name Barbora Panklová.

None of these speculations, however, have been definitely proven by serious historical research.

Denominations in numerals are in top left corner and on the right side. Centered are in words and in numeral.

Revers:

500 Korun 1993

On the back of the banknote, a portrait of a young woman is printed in several shades of brown as a symbol of female figures from the work of Božena Němcová. Flowers are woven into the young woman's hair, which turn into thorns and thistles on the right side of the portrait, as a symbolic expression of the contrast between Božena Němcová's romantic work and her difficult life.

From the portrait on the right, a 20 mm. wide brown strip leads parallel to the longer sides of the banknote towards the coupon, on which the coat of arms of the Czech Republic, printed in dark brown, is placed. The background print of the banknote consists of a small grid in several shades of brown. In the lower left corner of the printing pattern, the number "500" is printed in brown, the area of ​​its digits is filled with a small raster. Simultaneously with the underside of the banknote, the inscription "BANKNOTE COUNTERFEITING PUNISHED BY LAW" is placed at the bottom center. The color of the inscription is brown. At the bottom edge of the banknote, the inscriptions "© ČESKÁ NÁRODNÍ BANKA" (left) and "THOMAS DE LA RUE AND COMPANY LIMITED" (right) are printed in small brown letters. All listed images and texts are printed from the desktop. (www.zakonyprolidi.cz)

coat

Centered, a little to the right side, is Czech coat of arms.

The coat of arms of the Czech Republic (Státní znak České republiky) displays the three historical regions - the Czech lands - which make up the nation: Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia.

The arms of Bohemia show a silver double-tailed lion on a red background. This Bohemian Lion makes up the first and the fourth quarters of the greater coat of arms, so it is repeated in the shield. The Moravian red-and-silver chequered eagle is shown on a blue background. Since the days of the Habsburg Monarchy until 1918, the Moravian Eagle was chequered in the red-and-gold colours of the Habsburg dynasty. The arms of Silesia are a black eagle with the so-called "clover stalk" in her breast on a golden background, although only a small south-eastern part of the historical region (Czech Silesia) belongs to the Czech Republic.

The history of the Czech coat of arms dates back to the XIII century, when the Bohemian Lion, a meed by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to King Vladislaus II of Bohemia, appeared on the seal of his Přemyslid descendant King Ottokar II (1253-1278). The Moravian Eagle was first documented on the seal of Ottokar's uncle, Margrave Přemysl (d. 1239). The shields also appeared on the coat of arms of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown established by Emperor Charles IV. The Silesian Eagle stems from the ruling dynasty of the Piasts and was first applied by Duke Henry II the Pious (1238-1241).

Denominations in numerals are in top right and lower left corners.

Comments:

Obverse Designer: Oldrich Kulhanek.

Reverse Designer: Miloš Ondráček.

Engraver: Vaclav Fajt.

An interesting fact: the script of the popular Czech film "Three Nuts for Cinderella" is based on the fairy tale "Three Sisters" by Bozena Nemcova, which in turn is an adaptation of the classic "Cinderella" by the Brothers Grimm.