Decide for yourself which is true, but the cold hard facts are that there were only 1,970 counterfeit coins and bank notes seized in all of the Czech Republic during the first six months of 2009. This is 116 forged coins and notes less than the number seized one year earlier. Is law enforcement simply not doing its job, or are the counterfeiters bypassing the Czech Republic for greener pastures?
The number of bad coins and notes seized includes 319 fake euros and $91 in U.S. currency, presumable in bank note format. According to the Czech National Bank, the number of Czech korun (The CNB refers to the denomination as "crowns.") and European Union euros decreased, while the US dollar value increased.
This statistic does not include 1,405 "imitations" utilizing film props, teaching aids, and advertising copy individuals tried to pass as genuine Czech currency. The number of such "imitations" seized increased from only 98 pieces during 2008.
Even with the imitations added into the totals the number of counterfeit coins and notes seized the totals are paltry, considering that there were more than 3 billion koruna in coins and bank notes in circulation at face value at the end of 2008, according to CNB statistics. And, while the face value of the koruna in circulation has been increasing throughout the past several years the number of counterfeit or altered coins and bank notes seized peaked at 10,829 pieces in 2003 and has been generally trending downward ever since.
One reason counterfeiters may be putting their efforts elsewhere may be that the Czech Republic suspended its plan to join the EU's currency union in 2007 due to domestic opposition to the currency merger. Prior to that date the Czech Republic had planned to adopt the euro in 2012.
The Czech Republic and Republic of Slovakia were born from the remains of former Czechoslovakia at the time of the demise of the Soviet Union and its Iron Curtain satellite nations. During early 1993 100-, 500, and 1,000-korun Czechoslovakia bank notes began to circulate with adhesive stamps affixed to them indicating they were legal tender in the fledgling Czech Republic. Lower denomination Czechoslovakia notes also circulated, but without being re-designated in some form.
All Czech Republic coins depict a heraldic lion on the obverse, with the denomination on the reverse. Prominent Czech's appear in vignettes on the front of each bank note, with abstract designs on the back.
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