Commemorative Banknote of a 100 Years of Basketball Banknote

A special anniversary calls for a special memorial. This year, the Czech Basketball Federation and its Slovak neighbours are celebrating the 100th anniversary of organised basketball in our countries, united by a long history. This anniversary will be commemorated by a unique series of commemorative certificates with Czechoslovak legends, prepared for CZ.BASKETBALL by the State Printing Works of Securities, which also offers the commemorative certificates on its e-shop.

The face side of the commemorative certificate features basketball legends from both countries. For the Czech Republic, they are Jiří Zídek Sr. and Milena Jindrová, both of whom were voted the best Czech players of the 20th century in a 2001 poll. For the Slovak federation, their two greatest legends – Stanislav Kropilák and Anna Kotočová (née Janovčinová). Between these four figures are the names of other basketball legends from both countries in blue letters. Their likenesses were transferred into this form from photographs by graphic designer Jakub Marek and cartoonist Karolina Koblen.

“Both national basketball federations are proud to claim a rich history full of medals, titles, cups, achievements in sports diplomacy and personalities of global importance. This banknote is an integral part of our basketball history and an imaginary bridge to the second hundred of modern history under the bottomless baskets,” says Zdeněk Bříza, vice-president of the Czech Basketball Federation.

After all, Czechoslovakia was one of the original eight signatories and founding members of the International Basketball Federation FIBA in the summer of 1932. This historical fact is also depicted on the reverse of the commemorative certificate. On the reverse side you can also see sculptures of basketball players by the famous Czech sculptor Zdeněk Němeček, who is famous for his sculptures of athletes in motion and the author of, for example, the Golden Hockey Stick statuette for the best hockey player of the year.

“Issuing a commemorative certificate to mark the anniversary of the Czech Basketball Federation is one way to celebrate the achievements of Czechoslovak basketball and at the same time to please collectors and fans of the sport, and maybe even a way to motivate new and aspiring players. Our printing works have already produced commemorative certificates for hockey and football players, but this is the first time they have been printed for basketball players, and I am glad that their sporting achievements and history are not forgotten. The commemorative certificate in the form of a banknote bears some selected protective elements such as special paper, printing techniques, fluorescent inks, metallic embossing. What makes it interesting for collectors is its limited edition and especially the so-called anulates, commemorative certificates with the number line zero,” added Tomáš Hebelka, Director General of the Státní tiskárna cenin, s. p.

A special feature of the commemorative certificate is that under ultraviolet light an otherwise invisible 100-year motif emerges from the blue list of common legends. The numbers of all 4 Czechoslovak legends, the letters SK and CZ and the number of the banknote including the series will also be illuminated. On the other side, the 100 years of Czech and Slovak basketball 1924-2024 inscription, the number 100 and the federation logo will be lit up under the UV light.

The Czech Basketball Federation is issuing a total of 10,024 of these unique commemorative certificates in three special series. One series under the symbol CS corresponds to the common Czechoslovak history and the two others bear the markings SK and CZ for each country separately.

Interested parties can buy it in the e-shop of the Státní tiskárna cenin, s. p. and in the CZ BASKETBALL fanshop. The commemorative certificate will also be presented at the famous Collector fair, which will take place on 6 and 7 September 2024 in Letňany, Prague.

Specification of the commemorative certificate:

Format of the commemorative certificate: 194×84 mm

Printing method:      offset, die stamping, letterpress, embossing

Embossing:               metallic foil on the front, basketball and gold banknote stripe for the CS series and silver for the CZ and SK series

Material:                    paper with cotton, watermarked lime leaves and visible and invisible fibres, weight 110 g/m2

Colours:                     face and reverse side five colours, offset printing with Iris

on the face side printing of portraits of personalities by die stamping from an etched mould

printing of selected design elements in UV visible colour on the face and reverse sides

Protective elements:            paper with continuous watermark and UV-visible and invisible fibres

numbering with UV luminous ink, embossing, double-sided Iris prints, micro lettering and guilloche motifs

Numbering:               letterpress in black ink, glowing green under UV light, three series as follows:

CS 000,001 – 002,024

CZ 002,025 – 007,524

SK 007,525 – 010,024

Total number of pieces: 10,024 pieces, 150 anulate pieces

Graphical design: Státní tiskárna cenin, s. p.  and Česká basketbalová federace z. s.

Engraving: Ing. Stanislav Trokšiar, etched from the design by Mgr. Karolína Koblenová

Printed by: Státní tiskárna cenin, s. p.

Die stamping: Tiskárna Impéria s.r.o.

Date of issue: 19 June 2024

Issued by: Česká basketbalová federace z.s.

The gift cover of the commemorative certificate is made of high-quality 300 g/m2 graphical paper. The main inscription is created with a glossy metallic foil, so-called hot stamping, while the other texts are screen-printed.