Results of the public anonymous competition for the design of a silver 10-euro collector coin to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation

Second prize and the selected obverse side design
Mgr. art. Andrea Rolková, Pavel Károly

Second prize and the selected reverse side design
Mária Poldaufová

In March 2010, the National Bank of Slovakia announced a public anonymous competition for the design of a silver 10-euro collector coin commemorating the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, one of the most important documents connected with the national-emancipation process of the Slovaks. Six designs by seven designers (two of them working on one design) were entered in the competition. In June 2010, the entries were judged by the NBS Governor’s Committee for the Assessment of Designs for Slovak Euro Coins. The competition was closed without awarding any first, second or third prize and none of the designs was selected to be used on the coin. In July 2010, the competition was rerun with the authors of the two best-ranked designs from the previous competition invited to take part. They were the co-authors Mgr. art. Andrea Rolková and Pavel Károly, and akad. soch. Jozef Karol Höger. Again, six designs were entered in the competition, and they were assessed by an Expert Committee in October 2010. Both meetings of the Committee were attended by PhDr. Milan Podrimavský, CSc a historian acting as an expert advisor.

The Committee reached the opinion that a combination of two separate designs – the obverse side by co-authors Mgr. art. Andrea Rolková and Pavel Károly and the reverse side by Mária Poldaufová – would be the most appropriate. Each design was awarded a second prize. First and third prizes were not awarded.

The design selected for the obverse side impressed the Committee by its clear features of the Slovak landscape. The main motif – a stylised lime tree – is accompanied by a depiction of Kriváň, a peak which symbolises the Slovak nation’s independence, and by a church as a symbol of Christianity. The Committee appreciated also the composition, in which decorative elements fitted in with the selected motifs, text and font. Neither the obverse nor the reverse sides of the approved designs showed the coin’s nominal value, and therefore its inclusion on the obverse side was agreed at a subsequent meeting with the authors. The central motif of the reverse side features the Memorandum assembly with a church and lime trees in the background.

The Committee considered the selected reverse side to be the most sophisticated of the entered designs in terms of its form and composition and to be the most lucid. The Memorandum assembly is represented by several appropriate figures, the venue is marked by a church and lime trees, and the Slovak identity is emphasised by the Slovak emblem – a double cross on three hills. The obverse design – which complements the reverse side even though it has a more contrasting form – symbolises the Memorandum deed and incorporates the state emblem, a ceremonial banner and text.