1 Euro M.R. Stefanik

Slovakia issued this coin in 2004, the year of its EU accession, selecting Milan Rastislav Štefánik for the 1 euro denomination — a pointed choice. Štefánik was a Slovak astronomer, general, and co-founder of Czechoslovakia who died in 1919 when his plane was shot down, possibly by friendly fire from Czechoslovak ground troops, on approach to Bratislava. The circumstances were never conclusively established.