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100th anniversary of the discovery of the Demänovská Cave of Liberty

€20 silver collector coin

The obverse side of the coin
The reverse side of the coin

The Demänovská Cave of Liberty is part of the Demänovská Cave System, which is more than 41 km long. The cave system is notable for a diversity of flowstone structures that come in a plethora of shapes and sizes and feature an interplay of colours and hues. There are imposing, corridor-linked halls and domes, as well as the Demänovka Stream which formed the whole cave system. The Demänovská Cave of Liberty is one of the most beautiful caves in Slovakia. It was discovered in August 1921 by a Moravian teacher called Alois Král, who entered it via the Demänovka sinkhole. He found an impressive watercourse and a magnificent array of spaces and flowstone decorations, which led to the cave originally being named the “Temple of Liberty”. Life in the cave reflects the presence and quality of water. Largely because of their importance as a waterfowl biotope and underground wetland, the Demänovská Cave of Freedom and other caves of the Demänovská Valley are included in the List of Wetlands of International Importance under the Convention on Wetlands. The coin design harks back to the cave’s discovery by portraying a mattock and carbide lamp – tools used to penetrate the cave’s darkness for the first time.

  • Coin description

    Obverse:
    The left side is filled with an image of theDemänovská Cave of Liberty’s impressive speleothems. Around this image are examples of the cave’s rare fauna: two palpigrades and two beetles of the family Duvalius. To the right of that band are the Slovak coat-of-arms and, above it, the coin’s denomination ‘20’ and currency ‘EURO’, one above the other. The name of the issuing country ‘SLOVENSKO’ and the year of issuance ‘2021’ are inscribed along the right edge.

    Reverse:
    On the right side is a large circular inset depicting Alois Král in the process of discovering the cave – crawling down into it via a dry ponor of the Demänovka Stream. This image also includes a carbide lamp emitting rays of light and, at the bottom, the year ‘1921’ in which the cave was discovered. On the left, the larger part of the design depicts the cave’s dripstone formations together with lakes and other structures. At the base is the year ‘2021’. The inscription ‘DEMÄNOVSKÁ JASKYŇA SLOBODY’ (Demänovská Cave of Liberty) runs along the edge from the centre left to the lower right quadrant. At the edge of a lake on the lower left side are the stylised letters ‘MP’, referring to the coin’s designer Mária Poldaufová, and the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Mincovňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies.

  • Coin details
    Designer:Mária Poldaufová
    Composition:.925 silver, .75 copper
    Weight:33.63 g
    Diameter:40 mm
    Edge:OSOBITOSTI PRÍRODY SLOVENSKA
    (Special natural features of Slovakia)
    Producer:Kremnica Mint
    Engraver:Dalibor Schmidt
    Issuing volume:2,700 coins in brilliant uncirculated quality
    6,450 coins in proof quality
    Issuing date:15 June 2021

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