50 Korun Independence

This issue commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of Czechoslovak independence, proclaimed in October 1918 following the collapse of Austria-Hungary. The timing of its release — 1968 — collided with the Prague Spring and the subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion in August of that year, making it an oddly charged object: a state celebrating its founding ideals in the same months Soviet tanks were rolling through Wenceslas Square.

Mintage records for this type show both collector and circulation strikes, with the proof-like versions distributed through Tuzex, the Czechoslovak foreign-currency retail network.