Czech National Bank marks National Bank of Czechoslovakia centenary with new CZK 100 commemorative banknote and visitor centre exhibition

The Czech National Bank has set out a programme of professional, cultural and educational activities to mark 100 years since the National Bank of Czechoslovakia began operations in 1926, positioning the anniversary around the institution’s role in establishing an independent Czechoslovak currency and as a legal predecessor of the CNB. As part of the commemorations, a new exhibition at the CNB Visitor Centre was unveiled on 21 January 2026 and a new commemorative one-hundred-koruna banknote has been put into circulation. The commemorative CZK 100 banknote features a portrait of Vilém Pospíšil, the first governor of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia, and 20,000 notes are available for purchase from 21 January 2026 through contractual partners for the sale of CNB numismatic material, with the CNB noting that the note’s nominal value is not its sale price. The note measures 84 x 194 mm and includes security features such as two types of watermark, a security thread, microtext and a latent image, with SPARK® Flow technology used in printing the denomination number 100; it was designed by Eva Hašková and printed by the State Printing Works of Securities, with the SPARK® Flow element produced by Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions SA. The Visitor Centre’s supplementary exhibition, Alois Rašín’s Office, uses an audiovisual projection to present Rašín’s economic ideas focused on a stable currency, responsible economic policy and an independent central bank. The CNB indicated that further anniversary activities are planned for spring 2026, with additional information made available via a dedicated centenary website.