500 Korún

Slovakia's first central bank, established in April 1939 immediately after the declaration of the Slovak State under German pressure, needed a high-denomination note quickly. The Slovenská tlačiareň in Bratislava — a domestic press without the deep intaglio infrastructure of established security printers like Bradbury Wilkinson or the Czech State Printing Works — produced this note under significant technical constraints, which shows in the relatively modest security specification for a 500 Korún face value.

The koruna itself was pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate widely considered punitive, effectively subsidizing the German war economy through Slovak exports. A 500 Korún note in 1941 represented meaningful purchasing power in an economy already distorted by occupation-adjacent monetary arrangements.