Czech Republic: Coins Issued and Used

The koruna (sign: Kč; code: CZK) is the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993, and in English it is sometimes referred to as Czech crown. The koruna is one of European Union's 11 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro currency in the future.

The official name in Czech is koruna česká (plural koruny české, though the zero-grade genitive plural form korun českých is used on banknotes and coins of value 5 Kč or higher). The ISO 4217 code is CZK and the local acronym is Kč, which is placed after the numeric value (e.g., "50 Kč"). One koruna equals 100 haléřů (abbreviated as "h", singular: haléř, nominative plural: haléře, genitive plural: haléřů - used with numbers higher or equal to 5 - e.g. 3 haléře, 8 haléřů).

In 1993, coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 haléřů, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 korun. The 10 and 20 haléřů coins were taken out of circulation by 31 October 2003, and the 50 haléřů coins were withdrawn from circulation on 31 August 2008 due to their diminishing purchasing power and circulation.

In 2000, the 10 and 20 korun coins were minted with different obverses to commemorate the Millennium. In 1993 & 1994 coins were minted in Winnipeg and Hamburg, then in the Czech Republic. All circulation coins were designed by Ladislav Kozak (1934-2007).

Since 1997, sets for collectors are also issued yearly with proof quality coins. There's also a tradition of issuing commemorative coins - including silver and gold coins - for numismatic purposes.