In 1944, the Slovak National Bank (hereinafter referred to as the SNB) planned the minting of a silver ten-crown coin. The coin depicts Prince Pribina with his men-at-arms. The coin, weighing 7 grams and with a diameter of 29 mm, was minted from silver with a fineness of 500/1000. The first coins were minted by the mint in the summer of 1944; the exact number of coins was not set; it was to be adjusted additionally according to the needs of the SNB and its branches. By 29 August 1944, the mint had shipped 807,000 pieces to the SNB headquarters in Bratislava, and from September onwards, 264,000 pieces went to the branch in Banská Bystrica. The Slovak National Uprising (SNU) started at the time of the minting of the coins. The mint was located in the insurgent territory, which brought all precious metals under the supervision of the Slovak National Council. On 6 September 1944, it issued an immediate order to stop the minting of silver coins. According to the plan, the already minted coins were to be carefully packed and transported to the headquarters of the National Bank in Banská Bystrica. After the suppression of the SNU in 1944, the minting of the ten-crown coin was discontinued.
Thanks to the minting of these coins, a large amount of silver, which would otherwise have fallen into the hands of Nazi Germany, was distributed among the population. The SNB staff, led by Governor Imrich Karvaš, was well aware of the situation. Therefore, as early as summer of 1944, they made enormous efforts to achieve the minting of these coins. After the suppression of the Uprising, false information was circulating among the population that gold was hidden in the silver coins minted in 1944. Therefore, many of these coins are found damaged, either drilled or even broken in half. However, such coins were never produced and most of the gold deposited in the Kremnica Mint relocated through the Kremnica mountain range during the SNU to Moscow, from where it was returned after the end of the war.
The 10 Slovak koruna (crown) coin was officially put into circulation on 10 August 1944. Its validity lasted until 31 December 1947. The material used for minting the coin was an alloy of copper and silver in a 50/50 ratio. The coin depicts Prince Pribina with the foundation stone of the first church in today´s Slovak territory. To his left is a warrior with a sword, and to his right a bishop holding a miniature of a chapel. Two variants of the coin were produced during the minting process. The first one was with a cross on the chapel and the second one without the cross. This variant was the result of a manufacturing error. The coins that were in the pouch packed on 29 August 1944 contained coins without the cross on the chapel. The entire composition of the coin’s reverse side consists of the nominal value. The obverse side bears the symbol of the Slovak Republic, a year, and the title “Slovak Republic”.
The pouch, which was purchased by the Museum of the SNU in 2021, was packed by the Kremnica Mint on 29 August 1944. The pouch was then transported to Banská Bystrica, to Národná ulica (Národná street), where a branch of the Slovak National Bank was located. This branch took over the financial affairs in the insurgent territory from the SNB in Bratislava. The pouch with silver coins was exchanged for banknotes just before the occupation of Banská Bystrica by German troops in October 1944 started. After the war, the pouch full of ten-coin crowns was given as a wedding gift; then it was hidden as a family heirloom and only later unpacked. The coins it contained were undamaged and in perfect collection condition.
Lukáš Volentier