10 Korun / Korún – Czechoslovakia

In 1930, Czechoslovakia's currency, the koruna (Kč), stood as a notable pillar of stability in Central Europe, a direct legacy of the rigorous financial policies implemented after the state's founding in 1918. Following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the new government, led by Minister of Finance Alois Rašín, deliberately carved out a separate and strong monetary identity. This involved physically stamping and later replacing the old Austro-Hungarian banknotes, and pursuing a deflationary policy to establish a gold-backed currency with high value. By 1929, the Czechoslovak koruna was officially placed on the gold standard, earning it a reputation as the "hard currency" of the region, which bolstered international confidence and attracted foreign investment.

The domestic economic reality, however, was complex. The strong koruna benefited the financial sector and those with savings, but it made Czechoslovak exports, particularly from its dominant industrial and agricultural sectors, more expensive on the world market. This created persistent pressure on trade balances and contributed to economic disparities between the more developed Czech lands and the less industrialized Slovakia. While the country was largely spared the hyperinflation that devastated neighboring Germany and Austria in the early 1920s, its export-oriented industries were vulnerable to shifts in global demand.

This vulnerability would be severely tested as the 1930s progressed. The year 1930 itself marked a precarious turning point, as the stability painstakingly built during the 1920s began to confront the external shock of the Great Depression. The global collapse in trade and prices soon placed immense strain on the Czechoslovak economy. The fixed, high-value koruna became a burden, and the government was forced to defend its gold parity through strict austerity measures, leading to significant social and political tensions that would culminate in the eventual abandonment of the gold standard later in the decade.