Results of the public competition for the design of a €10 silver collector coin commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Božena Slančíková-Timrava

Reduced first prize and the selected design
Asamat Baltaev

Third prize
Miroslav Hric

In April 2016 Národná banka Slovenska (NBS) announced a public competition for the design of a €10 silver collector coin commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the writer Božena Slančíková-Timrava, a leading exponent of the late realism style in Slovak literature. A total of nine designs by nine different designers were entered in the competition. In June 2016 the designs were evaluated anonymously by the Committee for the Assessment of Commemorative and Collector Coin Designs, which was assisted in its task by an expert adviser, Dr Marcela Mikulová, from the Institute of Slovak Literature at the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

A design by Asamat Baltaev was awarded a reduced first prize and, on the Committee’s recommendation, it was approved by the NBS Bank Board as the design for the coin. The Committee’s key criterion in assessing the designs was the quality of the subject’s portrait. The portrait by Mr Baltaev, for the reverse side of the coin, was judged to be the most faithful likeness. The design was further praised for its balanced composition, featuring an open book spread over both sides. The obverse side is dominated by a quill overlying the open book. The page depicts a villager and rural scene in reference to a feature of the writer’s works.

No second prize was awarded.

Third prize went to a design by Miroslav Hric. The obverse side is divided into three horizontal segments. The upper segment shows a genre scene of villagers, while the central and lower segments, divided by a quill, contain lines on which are written the titles of prose works by the writer. The reverse side is dominated by the writer’s portrait, with further titles of her works shown in the background. On each side the designer creates a contrast between cursive script and block capitals, thus bringing a visual unity to the two sides.

Additional prizes were awarded to Mária Poldaufová, Miroslav Rónai and Michal Gavula in recognition of the high quality of their designs.