Slovakia 20 Euros, 2021

20 Euros from Slovakia. Issued in 2021. Struck in Silver (.925) (Ag 925/1000, Cu 75/1000). Measures 40 mm and weighs 33.63 g.

Obverse

The left side is filled with an image of theDemänovská Cave of Liberty’s impressive speleothems. Around this image are examples of the cave’s rare fauna: two palpigrades and two beetles of the family Duvalius. To the right of that band are the Slovak coat-of-arms and, above it, the coin’s denomination ‘20’ and currency ‘EURO’, one above the other. The name of the issuing country ‘SLOVENSKO’ and the year of issuance ‘2021’ are inscribed along the right edge.

Reverse

On the right side is a large circular inset depicting Alois Král in the process of discovering the cave – crawling down into it via a dry ponor of the Demänovka Stream. This image also includes a carbide lamp emitting rays of light and, at the bottom, the year ‘1921’ in which the cave was discovered. On the left, the larger part of the design depicts the cave’s dripstone formations together with lakes and other structures. At the base is the year ‘2021’. The inscription ‘DEMÄNOVSKÁ JASKYŇA SLOBODY’ (Demänovská Cave of Liberty) runs along the edge from the centre left to the lower right quadrant. At the edge of a lake on the lower left side are the stylised letters ‘MP’, referring to the coin’s designer Mária Poldaufová, and the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Mincovňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies.