Numismatikforum

Does anyone know if there is a particular reason for Czechoslovakia's 1933 25-haleru? (I assume the very pricey 1932-dated coin is a pattern.)

The 25-haleru seems like an oddity within the series, surrounded as it was by 20-haleru coins.

The 25h's introduction was tried again a couple of times, in '53 and in '62, but it doesn't seem to have taken root then, either.

Anyway, anything that anyone knows about the reason for, or career of, the 1933 25h is something I'd really like to hear....

v.

Just a ( more or less qualified ) guess : perhaps the 25 haleru was an attempt to economise the cost of coinproduction ? By replacing two denominations ( 20 and 50 haleru ) by just one ( 25 h ) you still would have a coin run wich worked for daily use ( hence Denmark between 1972 and 1989 and the Netherlands between 1980 and 2001 ) but with only 3 instead of 4 denominations to strike ?

Next guess: A telephone coin. I don't know the prices of a telephone call in those times, but if it fits the denomination it could be a good reason.

Two good possibilities, I think--and I continue to look....

A telephone coin was one of my own guesses, but I have yet to find any evidence. I've also thought maybe it was fare for a streetcar, but again, I've found no evidence.

The collapsing of the 20h and 50h denominations into a single coin as a cost savings measure. It hadn't occurred to me. But now that you've mentioned it, I agree that it's a good, educated guess. I see that production of the 20h suffered some kind of hiccough about 1933, and production of the 50h seemed to end altogether with the 1931 issue. (But it's also true that Czech coin production in general was spotty during the tough times of the '30s.)

The distinctive look of the 25h might argue that its designer was assuming the coin would circulate with the similarly sized 20h and 50h, and needed a different look to forestall confusion...but I guess that might be true even if the concurrent circulation was only a brief thing, to be followed by the retirement of the 20h and 50h.

The idea of substituting a 25h coin for the 20h and 50h does gain a little additional plausibility (in my mind, anyway) because both American and French influence were alive in the Czechoslovakia of the time, and both the U.S. and France were--at that time--confirmed members of the "25-subunit club."

So thanks for the ideas. If anyone else has an idea or finds something, please let us know. In the meantime, I'll continue to look and will do likewise. I've contacted a Czech numismatic society but have never heard back.

I wonder...maybe the 1932-3 25h has some sort of deflationary inspiration, as with the 1932 4-reichspfennig. Oh well. Fun!

v.

I have asked for purpose of the 25 haleru coin in another german coinforum where I know a collector of czech coins writes now and then, so far he has not posted a reply. I will keep on looking and asking.

Thanks. Here's hoping...

v.

From the Czech Republic comes the kind reply, and the winner is...Mynter: the root cause for the '33 25-haleru was the need to economize.

I'm told there was a chronic shortage of 5-haleru coins, and that the denomination cost the mint more than 5-haleru to manufacture (about 8h, apparently), so the 5-haleru and the 20-haleru were--in effect--collapsed into a single coin.

v.

villa66 hat geschrieben:From the Czech Republic comes the kind reply, and the winner is...Mynter: the root cause for the '33 25-haleru was the need to economize.

I'm told there was a chronic shortage of 5-haleru coins, and that the denomination cost the mint more than 5-haleru to manufacture (about 8h, apparently), so the 5-haleru and the 20-haleru were--in effect--collapsed into a single coin.

v.

Quite an interesting explanation. That also means theat the 25- haleru was not replacing any other coin but simply was a cheaper suplement to the existing run.