Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
On 1 January 2009 Slovakia adopted the Euro as its currency with the exchange rate of 30.126 SK/€, and the €2 commemorative coin for 2009, Slovakia's first, featured the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in remembrance of the common struggle of the Czechoslovak people for democracy. By a quirk of fate, the welcoming speech on the behalf of the European Union on the occasion of Slovakia's entry to the Eurozone was delivered by Mirek Topolánek, the prime minister of the then-EU presiding country, the Czech Republic, naturally in his native language while other guest speakers used English. The Czech Republic continues to use the Czech koruna, or crown.
Slovenian tolar
In 1992, coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 stotinov (10, 20 and 50 stotins), 1 tolar, 2 tolarja and 5 tolarjev (2 and 5 tolars). 10 tolarjev (10 tolars) coins were added in 2000, followed by 20 and 50 tolarjev (20 and 50 tolars) in 2003. The obverse designs all show the denomination, with animals native to Slovenia on the reverses. The coins were designed by Miljenko Licul and Zvone Kosovelj and featured reliefs of animals by Janez Boljka.