Catalog
500 Korún Provisional 'Adhesive stamp' issue
| Issuer | Ministerstvo financí (Ministry of Finance), Czechoslovakia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | REPUBLIKA ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ TÁTO POUKÁZKÁ PÄŤSTO KORÚN PÄŤSOT KRÓN ПЯТЬСОТ КРОН 1944 FALŠOVANIE SA TRESTÁ ČESKOSLOVENSKO |
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| Protection type | Adhesive validation stamp |
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| Comments |
When Czechoslovakia was liberated in May 1945, the government-in-exile returned to find the currency in chaos — occupation-era Protectorate notes, Slovak State notes, and Reichsmarks all circulating simultaneously. Rather than wait for newly printed issues to arrive, the Ministry of Finance authorized the overprinting of existing 500 Korun notes with an adhesive validation stamp to distinguish legitimate post-liberation currency from the rest. The stamp itself became the security feature by necessity, not design preference.
Forgeries of the stamp appeared almost immediately. The entire provisional arrangement lasted only months before proper replacement notes were available.