Silver slov. coin 10 EUR 2025 100th anniversary 1st Hockey Euro-championship in SR proof
Silver slov. coin 10 EUR 2025 100th anniversary 1st Hockey Euro-championship in SR proof
Product description
The Slovak silver euro coin was minted in proof quality on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the tenth European Ice Hockey Championship - the first and so far the only one held in Slovakia.
The Czechoslovaks have been successful at the first eight European Ice Hockey Championships, becoming champions three times. Our national team did not participate in the ninth championship, which struggled with internal divisions and disappointing results at the Olympics. Then came the jubilee tenth championship, which took place from 8 to 11 January 1925 in Prague. Although it was freezing in December and the games were in full swing, there was no sign of frost and ice in January. This was a problem - there was no artificial ice rink in Czechoslovakia yet. Fortunately, the federation had counted on the problems and had the Jordán dam in Tábor as a backup, but even there a thaw occurred. It looked like the championship would have to move to Vienna, but in the end it moved from the Czech Republic to Slovakia, where the hockey players were welcomed in Štrbské pleso. Unfortunately, the weather was not in their favour here either. The army helped to deal with the snow calamity, but then came a sudden warming and another storm. Fortunately, the organizers promptly moved the competition to the frozen tennis courts in Starý Smokovec. Although the Czechoslovak hockey players had little time to play, they did well there. They did not receive a single goal from their opponents, won the tournament convincingly and became European champions for the fourth time.
The medal maker Karol Ličko dedicated the reverse side of the coin to a hockey player embedded in natural scenery. Another hockey player and a goalkeeper can be found on the obverse side - they too are surrounded by greenery and an authentic fragment of a church tower can be seen in the background. The composition is supplemented with the text SLOVAKIA, the national emblem, the year of issue 2025, the nominal value of 10 EURO and the inscription MAJSTROVSTVÁ EURÓPY V HOKEJI 1925 (EUROPEAN HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP 1925).
The coin was minted by the Mincovňa Kremnica Mint and issued by the National Bank of Slovakia.