Issuance of banknotes and coins

Act No. 6/1993 Coll. 
on the Czech National Bank, 
as amended by

Act No. 60/1993 Coll., Act No. 15/1998 Coll., Act No. 442/2000 Coll., the Constitutional Court ruling promulgated under No. 278/2001 Coll., Act No. 482/2001 Coll., Act No. 127/2002 Coll., Act No. 257/2004 Coll., Act No. 377/2005 Coll., Act No. 57/2006 Coll., Act No. 62/2006 Coll., Act No. 230/2006 Coll., Act No. 160/2007 Coll., Act No. 36/2008 Coll., Act No. 124/2008, Act No. 254/2008 Coll., Act No. 295/2009 Coll., Act No. 285/2009 Coll., Act No. 156/2010 Coll., Act No. 281/2009 Coll., Act No. 145/2010 Coll., Act No. 41/2011 Coll., Act No. 92/2011 Coll., Act No. 136/2011 Coll. (part), Act No. 139/2011 Coll., Act No. 136/2011 Coll. (part) and Act No. 357/2011 Coll.

Note: This text is a working document for information only, and is not an official 
translation of the Czech legislation. In force as from 1 January 2012

PART FOUR 
Issuance of banknotes and coins

Article 12

The Czech National Bank shall have the exclusive right to issue banknotes and coins, including commemorative coins (hereinafter referred to as “banknotes and coins”).

Article 13

The monetary unit in the Czech Republic shall be the Czech koruna (crown), abbreviated as 
“Kč”. The Czech koruna shall be divided into one hundred hellers.

Article 14

The Czech National Bank shall manage the stocks of banknotes and coins, and shall organise the delivery of banknotes and coins from the manufacturers in keeping with the requirements for the circulation of money.

Article 15

The Czech National Bank shall organise the printing of banknotes and the minting of coins, and shall see to the protection and security of banknotes and coins that have not been released into circulation and to the safekeeping and destruction of printing plates, dies and invalid and withdrawn banknotes and coins.

Article 16

(1) Valid banknotes and coins issued by the Czech National Bank shall be legal tender at their par value in respect of all payments made within the territory of the Czech Republic. 
(2) Coins made from precious metals, commemorative coins and special coins intended for collection may be sold at prices other than their par value.

Article 16a

(1) No person shall be allowed to produce, import, offer, sell or otherwise distribute medals, tokens or similar items whose appearance may mislead their holder to believe that they are coins or commemorative coins of a certain par value issued by the Czech National Bank. 
(2) No person shall be allowed to use the word “coin” when referring to or describing a token, medal or similar item in connection with the offer, sale or other distribution thereof.

Article 17

Cancelled

Article 18

Cancelled

Article 19

(1) The Czech National Bank may declare invalid and withdraw from circulation any banknotes and coins it has issued. It shall refund their par value by exchanging them for other, newly issued banknotes and coins. The period over which such exchange may take place shall not be less than five years, save as otherwise provided in a special legislative act. 
(2) At the end of the exchange period, the sum total of the banknotes and coins that have been declared invalid but have not been presented for exchange shall be deducted from the amount of money in circulation that appears in the accounts of the Czech National Bank. This sum shall be income to the Czech National Bank.

Article 20

Cancelled

Article 21

Cancelled

Article 22

The Czech National Bank shall set forth by decree:

 

  1. the par values, dimensions, weight, material, appearance and other attributes of banknotes and coins and the manner of their issuance into circulation;
  2. the manner of terminating the validity of banknotes and coins and the manner and period of their exchange for other banknotes and coins.

Act on the Czech National Bank (pdf, 238 kB)