With the restoration of Czechoslovakia after World War II and the reintroduction of the Czechoslovak koruna as legal tender, there was a need to make new coins that would be part of the new monetary system. During this period, coins of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and coins of the Slovak State circulated simultaneously on the territory of Czechoslovakia, which resulted in considerable confusion in the daily cash handling. It was therefore necessary to prepare designs for the new coins as soon as possible. A previously unused denomination – the 2 Koruna coin – was to be part of the new monetary system. By introducing this coin into circulation, the Ministry of Finance was trying to reduce the number of minted 1 Koruna coins to save the metal used, since it was in short supply in the post-war period. The difference in the amount of metal used between the 1 and 2 Koruna coins was only 1.5 grams, while the face value was twice as high. The introduction of the 2 Koruna coin into circulation could thus save several tonnes of scarce non-ferrous metals. At the same time, there was a need to accommodate the Ministry of Posts, which had requested the minting of a 2 Koruna coin for use in payphones, as 1 Koruna did not cover the cost of the service.
On the basis of the commission, the Kremnica mint prepared a collection of 10 pattern strikes, which were struck according to J. Wagner’s competition designs. These pattern strikes were submitted by the Mint to the Ministry of Finance for consideration on 19 November 1946. After the initial assessment at the Ministry of Finance, the pattern strikes were further submitted to the Ministry of Interior, members of the jury and other stakeholders for approval of the design of the national emblem. This resulted in changes to the height of the relief of the lion and the adaptation of the reverse so that the raised areas of the reverse and the obverse did not lie against each other. This could make the minting more difficult to execute. The final design of the circulation coin was therefore changed compared to the pattern strikes, especially on the side of the state emblem.
In Auction #30, one specimen of the extremely rare 1946 2 Koruna pattern strikes designed by J. Wagner will be auctioned as lot #428. According to our findings, there are currently only three specimens of this rare pattern strike mintage from the post-war Czechoslovakia period on the market.
