Czechoslovak 5000-crown note sells at auction for record-breaking 25.68 million crowns

A 5000-crown banknote, produced in April 1919 for the newly independent state of Czechoslovakia, was sold at auction on Friday 15th of November for 25.68 million crowns. It therefore became the most expensive paper currency ever sold within the country.

The red and elaborately decorated note, which neither the Czech National Bank nor the National Museum owns, went to auction with a starting price of 2.5 million crowns. Its high price is a result of its uniqueness; only two surviving examples of the note in mint condition are known to exist today, both in private hands. The small number of notes has historical causes, as the auction house's co-owner Aleš Kohout explained to Radiožurnál:

“It is the highest denomination of the first issue [of banknotes], and only two examples are known of. This means that this banknote can only be in two collections. So few specimens have been preserved because the banknote was already widely counterfeited during its circulation. Over four hundred counterfeits were caught during its year of validity, and therefore it was replaced very quickly, already in 1920, by a banknote of a new type.”

The record was previously held by a damaged version of the same banknote, which was sold for 14.52 million crowns in 2020. The result of the auction was announced in a press release on Friday by Bankovky.com, which auctioned the money for a client. Mr. Kohout said that he was pleasantly surprised by the final price, having expected only twenty million. He discussed some of the motivations behind such large purchases:

“In these high amounts, it's always partly some form of alternative investment, so it's definitely an investment … Unlike classic investments in stocks or crypto, the collector must also have some expertise. Collectors or investors usually collect or invest for the long term. It's not a short-term thing.”

The banknote itself is quite large in size, crimson red in colour, and decorated with a floral pattern and a single image of a woman. 5000-crown notes can still be encountered today, although they now bear the image of President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who was head of state when the numismatic rarity sold on Friday was first produced.