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CC 550 2025
2 euro coin
BU Main coin Bank issue
2 Euro BU
Slovakia · 100 years of the First International Sports Tournament in Slovakia – Ice Hockey European Championship
Mintage982,000
Issue date20 Jan 2025
Edge letteringSLOVENSKÁ REPUBLIKA + ★ + Linden leaf + ★
Market price€3.50
Issue occasion
The coin commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first international sports tournament held in the territory of the Slovak Republic, the 1925 Ice Hockey European Championship. The design depicts an ice hockey player in a period uniform against the stylised mountain landscape of the High Tatras (Hohen Tatra), where the championship was held. The design is complemented by the inscription “MAJSTROVSTVÁ EURÓPY V HOKEJI”, the years “1925” and “2025”, and the lettering “SLOVENSKO”.
The design
The coin design depicts an ice hockey player during a game. His uniform is typical of the style of the period of the 1925 European Ice Hockey Championship. Behind the player, the Slovak mountain region of the High Tatras, where the championship was held at the time, rises in stylized form. The inscription “MAJSTROVSTVÁ EURÓPY V HOKEJI” (European Ice Hockey Championship) runs along the upper inner rim of the coin. In the upper left part of the coin design, the years “1925” and “2025” are arranged one above the other. At the bottom, “SLOVENSKO” can be read as the name of the issuing country. To the right of the player is the mark of the Slovak mint producing the coin in Kremnica (Mincovňa Kremnica). Next to it are the initials “KL” of the coin designer Karol Ličko.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
Background on the topic
At the time of the tournament, the territory of present-day Slovakia belonged to Czechoslovakia, founded in 1918. An independent Slovak Republic did not exist in 1925. The championship of that time is therefore part of both Czechoslovak sports history and an early chapter in organized ice hockey in Slovak territory.
Ice hockey played according to Canadian rules spread throughout Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The international governing organization, then known by its French name Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace, had been founded in 1908. European championships for national teams had been held since 1910. In the 1920s, such competitions carried greater independent significance than they did later, when world championships and the Olympic Winter Games came to shape international competition more strongly.
The games were played under conditions that differed considerably from those of modern indoor ice hockey. The matches took place on natural ice and were therefore dependent on temperature and weather conditions. Equipment consisted only of relatively simple protective padding; helmets were not generally customary. The rink boundaries, rules and tactical procedures also differed in some respects from modern ice hockey. The title was won by the team of Czechoslovakia.
The staging of the event in the Tatra was also connected with the region’s development as a winter sports and tourist destination. Places such as Starý Smokovec and Štrbské Pleso already had tourist infrastructure and, due to their elevation, offered favorable conditions for winter sports events. The tournament thus linked the still young international team sport with the development of the Carpathian region for winter tourism at that time.
Ice hockey continues to have a strong social presence in Slovakia. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, an independent Slovak national team was established, participating in international championships. The coin issue therefore not only marks a round anniversary, but also places the tournament at the beginning of a long regional ice hockey tradition. At the same time, it recalls that international sports history was already being written in the territory of present-day Slovakia during the interwar period.
Ice hockey played according to Canadian rules spread throughout Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The international governing organization, then known by its French name Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace, had been founded in 1908. European championships for national teams had been held since 1910. In the 1920s, such competitions carried greater independent significance than they did later, when world championships and the Olympic Winter Games came to shape international competition more strongly.
The games were played under conditions that differed considerably from those of modern indoor ice hockey. The matches took place on natural ice and were therefore dependent on temperature and weather conditions. Equipment consisted only of relatively simple protective padding; helmets were not generally customary. The rink boundaries, rules and tactical procedures also differed in some respects from modern ice hockey. The title was won by the team of Czechoslovakia.
The staging of the event in the Tatra was also connected with the region’s development as a winter sports and tourist destination. Places such as Starý Smokovec and Štrbské Pleso already had tourist infrastructure and, due to their elevation, offered favorable conditions for winter sports events. The tournament thus linked the still young international team sport with the development of the Carpathian region for winter tourism at that time.
Ice hockey continues to have a strong social presence in Slovakia. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, an independent Slovak national team was established, participating in international championships. The coin issue therefore not only marks a round anniversary, but also places the tournament at the beginning of a long regional ice hockey tradition. At the same time, it recalls that international sports history was already being written in the territory of present-day Slovakia during the interwar period.
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