The Ten-Crown and Twenty-Crown with the Astronomical Clock – The Millennium in Numismatics
In the year 2000, to celebrate the turn of the millennium, special commemorative coins were issued – a ten-crown and a twenty-crown featuring the motif of the astronomical clock. These coins are often referred to as the "ten-crown with the astronomical clock" and the "twenty-crown with the astronomical clock".
The general public often contacts us with inquiries regarding these 10 and 20 crown coins, as it can be surprising for an uninitiated collector to learn that these are commemorative issues that are commonly found in circulation. Interestingly, these coins are the only commemorative issues we commonly encounter – unlike the commemorative coins from 2018 and 2019 featuring prominent personalities, which are practically never found in circulation.
Unfortunately, these coins are not interesting from a collector's perspective! A large quantity was minted and the vast majority are in circulated condition. Therefore, they have no significant value above their face value. In case a coin is in superb condition, it might be worth at most a few hundred crowns.
History and Issuance Context
Two variants of coins were issued for the entry into the new millennium: one with a commemorative motif (so-called millennium pattern) and the other in standard circulation quality. Officially, these coins are designated as "10 Kč millennium pattern" and "20 Kč millennium pattern", distinguishing them from the traditional patterns – the ten-crown with the Brno motif (Petrov) and the twenty-crown with Saint Wenceslas.
According to data from the Czech National Bank (CNB – 10 Kč pattern 2000) and emission figures, the following were minted in 2000:
- 10 Kč millennium pattern: 10,000,000 pcs
- 20 Kč millennium pattern: 10,000,000 pcs
- 20 Kč St. Wenceslas pattern: 5,000,000 pcs
As we can see, all these variants were minted and entered circulation in truly enormous quantities, making them circulation coins that are entirely common.
The so-called "wow" effect of these coins might be caused by the fact that we don't very often check what the coins we pay with actually look like.
However, rare variants of 10 Crown coins can indeed be found in circulation.
- 10 Kč Brno (Petrov) pattern: 30,000 pcs - Year 2000
For the variant with the classic ten-crown pattern (10 Kč Brno – Petrov) YEAR 2000, only 30,000 pcs were minted, making this issue more interesting.
And we must not forget the rare 10 Crown coin from 1993, the so-called "Small Kč" variant.
Design, Authors, and Minting
The coins were issued to mark the beginning of the new millennium. The authors of the designs are renowned artists – academic sculptor Vladimír Oppl is the author of the motif on the ten-crown millennium pattern, and academic sculptor Ladislav Kozák designed the motif for the twenty-crown millennium pattern. Both variants were minted in very high quantities, meaning their rarity from a collector's perspective does not significantly impact their value.
Collector's Value
Although the coins have an interesting design and historical context, they are not very interesting from a collector's standpoint. Most of them are commonly found in circulation, so their value is only slightly above face value. In case a coin is in superb condition (for example, in a mint set or as a proof variant), it might reach a value of a few hundred crowns.
However, note that for the variant of the ten-crown with the astronomical clock, also known as 10 Kč Brno (Petrov) pattern – minted only in a quantity of 30,000 pcs – the uniqueness of this issue is evident even from the emission data listed on the CNB website.
Finally, we have an interesting picture from one of our auctions for you.
- eAuction Aurea, lot 4867 – Original unopened bank roll, 50 pcs of 10 Kč coins – Millennium