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Results of the public competition for the design of a €10 silver collector coin commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik

Reduced first prize and the design selected for the coin’s reverse
Ivan Řehák

Reduced first prize and the design selected for the coin’s reverse Reduced first prize and the design selected for the coin’s reverse

Reduced first prize
Ivan Řehák

Reduced first prize Reduced first prize

Increased third prize and the design selected for the coin’s obverse
Mária Poldaufová

Increased third prize and the design selected for the coin’s obverse Increased third prize and the design selected for the coin’s obverse

In November 2017 Národná banka Slovenska (NBS) announced a public competition for the design of a €10 silver collector coin commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik. A total of twenty designs by eighteen designers were entered in the competition. In March 2018 the designs were evaluated anonymously by the Committee for the Assessment of Commemorative and Collector Coin Designs. The Committee was assisted in its task by the expert advisers Bohumila Ferenčuhová from the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Mária Gallová from the M. R. Štefánik Society and Pavel Šesták from the M. R. Štefánik Foundation.

The Committee recommended a design by Ivan Řehák for use on the coin and suggested it for a reduced first prize. The Committee praised the design for both the artistry and the content. The obverse displays a silhouette of M. R. Štefánik’s head in a general’s cap, slightly diagonally at the top is the Caproni biplane on whose board Štefánik died on his return to his homeland – Slovakia. The reverse side features a portrait which, in the Committee’s judgment, represents the truest picture of Štefánik. To the left of the portrait is an astronomical telescope and to the right is a stylised comet. The Committee appreciated also the fact that the obverse side presents Štefánik as a general, while the reverse side depicts him as a scientist.

The Committee recommended a similar reduced first prize for another design by Ivan Řehák, which also presents the two characteristics of Štefánik – as a scientist and a general. The central obverse evokes Štefánik as an astronomer. The composition includes astronomical instruments and a decorative planisphere. The reverse depicts a very realistic portrait of M. R. Štefánik wearing a general’s cap, and a Caproni biplane in vertical position to his right.

The Committee recommended an increased third prize for the design by Mária Poldaufová, while no second prize was awarded. The obverse of her design is dominated by an extract from the middle of the Czechoslovak Republic’s coat of arms and a silhouette map of Czechoslovakia below, recalling Štefánik’s participation in the creation of the state. The composition is completed with the text of his personal motto. The reverse design depicts Štefánik’s portrait in a general’s cap, and details of his military decorations on the left.

The NBS Bank Board set aside the Committee’s recommendation and decided instead that a combination of the designs by the two prize-winners would be used for the coin. The design by Mária Poldaufová will be used for the obverse and the design with Štefánik’s relief portrait in a general’s cap by Ivan Řehák will be used for the reverse.

Additional prizes were awarded to Miroslav Rónai, Michal Gavula, Roman Lugár and Branislav Ronai in recognition of the quality of their designs.