Designed by Miroslav Schovanec, this 18 gram, 34 mm,  0.900 silver coin is issued to mark a centenary since Czechoslovak Radio started broadcasting on 18 May 1923. The Slovak Radio Building takes pride of place on the reverse, above which is a transmitter tower sending forth radio waves. Behind the waves is an outline map of Czechoslovakia. Impressively, the look of the building on the coin isn’t an exaggerated one – it really is that shape. Very cool.

The obverse has an early 20th century condenser microphone on it, with three loudspeakers as a backdrop. The pulsating radio waves are present here also, although with a different orientation. Those of us who had an old car stereo with an equaliser will recognise the audio pattern below it. Takes me back a bit. The denomination is inscribed here, in Euros, of course, as Slovakia is a full member state. It’s one of those coins that seems designed to perfectly encapsulate its subject, whether that be a well-known one or not. Available to order now, there will be 7,200 coins struck to a proof quality, and 3,100 struck to the lesser brilliant uncirculated one.

MINTS DESCRIPTION: Under its then name Radiojournal, Czechoslovak Radio (Československý rozhlas) began regular broadcasting on 18 May 1923, doing so as a private company. A turning point in the history of radio in Slovakia came on 3 August 1926, when Radiojournal launched regular broadcasting from Bratislava. The next year it opened a station in Košice, and in 1936 another one in Banská Bystrica. The creation of the wartime Slovak State in March 1939 resulted in the establishment of state-controlled radio broadcaster Slovak Radio (Slovenský rozhlas). During the Slovak National Uprising in August–October 1944, the Free Slovak Broadcasting Company (Slobodný slovenský vysielač) was operating out of Banská Bystrica.

Following the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948, Československý rozhlas was established as a single state organisation by a law of 28 April 1948, with centralisation and censorship to the fore. The 1989 Velvet Revolution brought a restoration of freedom of speech in radio. Slovak Radio (Slovenský rozhlas) was established as a public broadcaster, and on 1 January 2011 it merged with Slovak Television (Slovenská televízia) to form Radio and Television of Slovakia (Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska).

LINKS: NATIONAL BANK OF SLOVAKIA SELLERS