Press releases
30. 3. 2011
  • Banknotes and coins

CZK 50 to remain valid only in coin form

Thursday 31 March is the last day when it will be possible to pay with the CZK 50 banknote. As from Friday 1 April only the coin of the same value will remain valid. It will be possible to exchange the invalid banknotes free of charge for one year at cash counters of banks operating in the Czech Republic and at Czech National Bank branches. CNB branches will continue to exchange them for another five years.

“No fees may be charged for the exchange of CZK 50 notes,” said Pavel Řežábek, member of the Bank Board and Chief Executive Director of the CNB. However, a prescribed packaging standard must be observed if a large quantity of banknotes is to be exchanged, i.e. the notes must be smoothed and aligned according to side and direction of print and placed in bundles of 100 with a tape around them.

After 31 March the invalid banknotes will be gradually returned to the CNB, where they will be checked for authenticity and shredded. The banknote fragments will be compressed under high pressure and taken to an incineration plant in the form of bricks.

The CNB Bank Board decided back in 2010 that the CZK 50 note would cease to be legal tender. “The cost of maintaining CZK 50 notes in circulation is much higher compared to the coins of the same value,” added Mr Řežábek. Whereas the coins last for decades, the banknotes must be changed every three or four years on average.

The central bank produced the last banknotes depicting St. Agnes of Bohemia on their face side in 2007. Since then it has been replacing them with coins. A total of 30 million CZK 50 banknotes were in circulation in 2007, while today their number is less than half that. As of 29 March 2011, a total of 14.2 million banknotes worth CZK 707.8 million and more than 64 million coins worth CZK 3.2 billion were in circulation.

The 1993 version of the CZK 50 banknote, which ceased to be legal tender in 2007, will remain exchangeable until 2017. These oldest CZK 50 notes will be exchanged only at CNB branches until the end of March 2017. These invalid CZK 50 notes have the year 1993 printed on the face side and do not have the heart-shaped graphic symbol with a watermark on the reverse side.

As from Friday 1 April, the Czech Republic will have six valid banknote types, namely the CZK 100, CZK 200, CZK 500, CZK 1,000, CZK 2,000 and CZK 5,000 denominations, and the same number of valid coin types, namely CZK 1, CZK 2, CZK 5, CZK 10, CZK 20 and CZK 50.

Structure of currency in circulation as of 29 March 2011 - banknotes

Banknotes Number
(in thousands)		 Value
(in thousands CZK)
5 24,031 120,155,000
2 55,281 110,562,000
1 119,949 119,949,000
500 20,065 10,032,500
200 49,898 9,979,600
100 47,579 4,757,900
50 14,155 707,75
20 5,215 104,3
Total 336,173 376,248,050

Structure of currency in circulation as of 29 March 2011 - coins

Coins Number
(in thousands)		 Value
(in thousands CZK)
50 64,269 3,213,450
20 143,154 2,863,080
10 166,292 1,662,920
5 192,676 963,38
2 339,742 679,484
1 415,549 415,549
0.50 366,809 183,405
Total 1,688,491 9,981,268

Marek Petruš, CNB spokesman