was confidential up to the last minute, but some information leaked anyway, causing a lot of panic. The night before the deadline, the president of Czechoslovakia, Antonín Zápotocký, made a radio speech, in which he lied to the nation that there was no possibility of a reform and quietened down the inhabitants. The next day, people (those lucky enough not to fit into the category of "capitalistic elements", a pejorative category which the intelligence agency used to blacklist certain individuals) were allowed to change up to 1,500 old korunas for new korunas at the rate of 5 old to 1 new koruna and the rest at the rate of 50 to 1. All insurance stock, state obligations and other commercial papers were nullified. The economic situation of many people got worse, and many petitions and demonstrations broke out, the largest of which took place in Plzeň, where 472 people were arrested. In 1993, on the breakup of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak koruna split into two independent currencies: the Slovak koruna and the Czech koruna. Accession to the EU in 2004 meant both currencies were slotted to be replaced by the euro once their respective countries met the criteria for economic convergence and there was the political will to do so. The Slovak koruna was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2009; there is currently no set or estimated date for the Czech koruna to be replaced. Coins Banknotes Consumer price index Annual increase in the consumer price index See also Czech koruna Slovak koruna Bohemian and Moravian koruna References External links Czechoslovak banknotes (catalog, gallery and other details) Currencies of Europe Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Czechoslovakia Currency symbols Currencies introduced in 1919 Currencies introduced in 1945