Results of the public anonymous competition for the design of a 20-euro silver collector coin featuring the Historical Preservation Area of Trenčín

Second prize and the selected reverse side design
Miroslav Rónai

Second prize
Mária Poldaufová

Reduced third prize and the selected obverse side design
Karol Ličko

Reduced third prize
Mgr. art. Roman Lugár

In January 2011, Národná banka Slovenska (NBS) announced a public anonymous competition for the design of a silver 20-euro collector coin featuring the historical preservation area of Trenčín town. Sixteen designs by thirteen designers were entered in the competition. In April 2011, the entries were judged by the NBS Governor’s Committee for the Assessment of Designs for Slovak Euro Coins. The expert advisor to the Committee was Ing. arch. Viera Dvořáková, a representative of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic.

The Committee recommended a design by Mária Poldaufová for the obverse side of the coin and a design by Miroslav Rónai for the reverse side.

The NBS Governor, acting with the authorisation of the NBS Bank Board, exercised his right arising from the terms of public competition which allow him to decide differently from the commission’s recommendation. He decided that the obverse side of the coin should feature a design by Karol Ličko, awarded a reduced third prize in the competition, instead of the design by Ms Poldaufová. Mr Ličko’s design depicts Trenčín castle, the dominant landmark of the town, along with the 2nd century Roman inscription preserved on the castle rock. His design for the reverse side, which was not chosen for the coin, is a composition of various architectural monuments of the town – Parish Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, Town Tower, and Piarist Church of St Francis Xavier.

Mr Rónai’s design for the reverse side, approved in line with the recommendation of the Committee, was awarded second prize in the competition. The Committee was particularly impressed by the well-arranged aerial depiction of the historical preservation area and its valuable architectural monuments, including the fully preserved triangle-shaped Námestie slobody (Freedom Square). His design for the obverse side, which was not selected, depicts the architectural landmarks of the town (synagogue, Town Tower, Trenčín castle, Parish Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary) along with a conceptual portrait of Matúš Čák of Trenčín and, in the lower part of the coin, a vista of the town.

The second prize was shared with the design by Ms Poldaufová, which the Committee judged to be the most contemporary in concept. Her design for the obverse side creatively depicts Trenčín castle as viewed from below, underscoring its monumental size. However, the portrait of Matúš Čák was deemed by the Committee’s expert advisor and the NBS representatives to be excessively prominent, given that the coin was meant to focus on the historical preservation area of Trenčín. For the reverse side, Ms Poldaufová designed a composition of architectural landmarks (synagogue, Town Tower, and Piarist Church of St Francis Xavier) together with a well and water sprite.

A reduced third prize was also awarded to Mgr. art. Roman Lugár for what the Committee considered to be the most complex depiction of the Trenčín historical preservation area, including a notable townscape (with the castle) on the reverse side. The Committee, however, queried the use of only one word from the Roman inscription on the castle rock. As for the obverse design, it found the prevalence of interior reliefs (stucco decoration of the monastery vault) to be a shortcoming.