Results of the public anonymous competition for the design of a silver 10-euro collector coin to commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bernolák

First prize and the selected design
Pavel Károly

Increased third prize
akad. soch. Miloš Vavro
Jozef Střelec

Increased third prize
Miroslav Rónai

In August 2011, Národná banka Slovenska announced a public anonymous competition for the design of a 10-euro silver collector coin commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bernolák, a significant linguist and the first codifier of the Slovak language. Eleven designs were entered in the competition. In November 2010, the entries were judged by the NBS Governor’s Committee for the Assessment of Designs for Slovak Euro Coins. The Committee took expert advice from prof. PhDr. Pavol Žigo, Director of the Ludovit Stur Institute of Linguistics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and PhDr. Peter Mulík, PhD., secretary of the Slovak heritage association Matica slovenská.

A design by Pavol Károly won the first prize in the competition and was approved for the coin. The Committee appreciated the balance between the obverse and reverse sides both in the composition and creative expression. The obverse design aptly depicts references to Anton Bernolák and his work – including the title page of his book “Etymologia vocum Slavicarum” (Etymology of Slovak words) and his facsimile signature. On the reverse side there is a high-quality and accurate portrait of Bernolák set in a textual composition formed by the titles of Bernolák’s works. Fitting in harmoniously with the rest of the design is the name “Anton Bernolák” along the lower edge, just below the dates of his birth and death.

No second prize was awarded in the competition. An increased third prize was awarded to academic sculptor Miloš Vavro and Jozef Střelec for their co-design. The Committee was particularly impressed by the rendition of the portrait, appropriately completed by Bernolák’s facsimile signature and the dates of his birth and death. For the obverse side, the designers chose the motif of an open book and a textual composition comprising the titles of Bernolák’s works.

An increased third prize was also awarded to Miroslav Rónai. The committee noted particularly the obverse design, which is apposite in terms of its content and conveys the richness and substance of Bernolák’s works. The Committee also acknowledged the high-quality portrait on the reverse side.