Hundreds queue outside Czech central bank for commemorative banknote
A commemorative banknote has drawn hundreds of collectors to Czech National Bank branches across the country. In Prague, people began queuing overnight in the hope of securing one of the limited-edition notes.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the Czech National Bank (ČNB) branch in Prague from the early hours of Tuesday to obtain a 5,000-crown banknote with a special overprint marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia.
Before the cash desk opened at 7:30 a.m., the queue stretched for around 700 metres from the bank's entrance on Na Příkopě Street through Nekázanka to Senovážné Square, according to the Czech News Agency. Some people had been waiting since the small hours. Queues several hundred metres long also formed outside ČNB branches in Hradec Králové, Brno and Ostrava.
Some people waiting in Prague brought folding chairs, while others wrapped themselves in blankets. A couple from Štětí arrived at 3:45 a.m. A woman who identified herself to the Czech News Agency as Nikola said she arrived at 6 a.m., which put her roughly halfway down the queue. A 15-year-old boy who was among those at the front said he had been waiting since Monday evening. Most people wanted to buy three banknotes, the maximum number offered by the ČNB to each person.
Police supervised the situation, while bank staff allowed ten people at a time to enter the cash desk area.
The banknote features a special ČNB logo marking the 100th anniversary of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia, along with two portraits of the country's first president, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. The overprint also includes a QR code linking to the ČNB's anniversary website. Otherwise, the note is identical to regular 5,000-crown banknotes and can be used for payments. Its value to collectors, however, may be higher than its face value, as has been the case with commemorative overprints issued in the past.
