100 Korun 1997, Czech Republic
| in Krause book | Number: 18 |
| Years of issue: | 15.10.1997 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Guverner: Josef Tošovský (20.1.1993 – 17.12.1997) |
| Serie: | 1993 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 15.10.1997 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 140 х 69 |
| Printer: | STC-Prague. Statni Tiskarna Cenin, Praha |
* All pictures marked 
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.
Description
Watermark:
Portrait of the Emperor Charles IV.
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is made after this painting by Novák Tomáš from Prague, 13 November 1992
Charles IV (Karel IV., Carolus IV, 14 May 1316 - 29 November 1378), born Wenceslaus, was the second King of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first King of Bohemia also to become Holy Roman Emperor.
He was the eldest son and heir of King John of Bohemia, who died at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. Charles inherited the County of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of Bohemia from his father. On 2 September 1347, Charles was crowned King of Bohemia.
On 11 July 1346, prince-electors elected him King of the Romans (rex Romanorum) in opposition to Emperor Louis IV. Charles was crowned on 26 November 1346 in Bonn. After his opponent died, he was re-elected in 1349 (17 June) and crowned (25 July) King of the Romans. In 1355 he was crowned King of Italy on 6 January and Holy Roman Emperor on 5 April. With his coronation as King of Burgundy, delayed until 4 June 1365, he became the personal ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire.
On the background is the Groin vault of St. Vitus Cathedral.
A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word "groin" refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round. In comparison with a barrel vault, a groin vault provides good economies of material and labour. The thrust is concentrated along the groins or arrises (the four diagonal edges formed along the points where the barrel vaults intersect), so the vault need only be abutted at its four corners.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert (Czech: metropolitní katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha) is a Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Up to 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral.
This cathedral is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the biggest and most important church in the country. Located within Prague Castle and containing the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors, the cathedral is under the ownership of the Czech government as part of the Prague Castle complex. Cathedral dimensions are 124×60 meters, the main tower is 96.5 meters high, front towers 82 m., arch height 33.2 m.
Lower, centered, are obverse and reverse of Prague groschen.
The Prague groschen (Czech: pražský groš, Latin: grossi pragenses, German: Prager Groschen, Polish: Grosz praski) was a groschen-type silver coin that became very common throughout Medieval Central Europe.
It is a silver coin with on the obverse the legend DEI GRATIA REX BOEMIE ("By the grace of God the King of Bohemia") and on the reverse GROSSI PRAGENSES ("Prague groschen"). The weight of the coin varies between 3.5 and 3.7 g. with a fineness of 933/1000 of silver.
The groschen was subdivided into twelve parvus ("small") coins with a Bohemian heraldic lion sign on the obverse.
Minting of this coin started around 1300 after silver mines had been discovered in Kutná Hora during the reign of the Bohemian king Wenceslaus II. King Wenceslaus II invited the Italian lawyer Gozzius of Orvieto to create a mining code Ius regale montanorum which also was partly was a reform of the coinage. This, and the high amount of silver found in Kutná hora resulted in the implementation of Prague groschen. Because of the high amount of silver used in the coin it became one of the most popular of the early Groschen-type coins in medieval Europe.
Denominations in numerals are in top left corner and on the right side. Centered are in words and in numeral.
Revers:
The seal of Charles University on parchment.
Charles University in Prague (Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Universitas Carolina Pragensis) is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe, east of France and north of the Alps. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe in continuous operation and ranks in the upper 1.5 percent of the world’s best universities.
Its seal shows its protector Emperor Charles IV, with his coats of arms as King of the Romans and King of Bohemia, kneeling in front of St. Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. It is surrounded by the inscription, Sigillum Universitatis Scolarium Studii Pragensis (Seal of the Prague academia, Pečeť studentské obce pražského učení).
The left side of the parchment has letter "K", aspiring founding charter of the Charles University.
Both sides of banknote combined by Gothic motifs and fragments of Gothic windows.
At the top is a geometric pattern, resembling stained glass from the lower level of St. Vitus Cathedral.
St. Vitus Cathedral (Katedrála svatého Víta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prague, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The full name of the cathedral is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral.
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:
Designer: Oldrich Kulhanek.
Obverse engraver: M. Ondracek.
Reverse engraver: Vaclav Fajt.
Prefixes Series: С, D. E, F.
I got this banknote in Mariánské Lázně at 02.07.2018.
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