Outside the main entrance to the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) on Imrich Karvaš Street stands a bronze sculpture, the front of which bears a high-relief enlarged interpretation of a Celtic Biatek coin. These coins were minted during the 1st century BCE within the territory of Bratislava and became the inspiration for the NBS logo and the design of the former five-crown coin. At the centre of the sculpture, the partly stylised figure of a rider astride a galloping horse is wearing a laurel wreath and holding a branch with three linden leaves in his braceleted right hand. Beneath the scene is an upper- and lower-framed inscription tape with the robust sculpted majuscule letters BIATEC. 

The almost flat reverse side of the sculpture bears a large, embossed ornament believed to depict the stylised head of a Celt, below which a three-line majuscule inscription reads: 

"BIATEC RULER OF THE CELTS 

ON THE TERRITORY OF BRATISLAVA 

CONTEMPORARY OF JULIUS CAESAR". 

The majuscule characters 1 - ST - PR - N - L engraved underneath represent abbreviations of the words "1st century BCE". 

The coin is supported by a triangular bronze leg that rises from a two-tiered white concrete base formed of a square plate and narrower cylinder. On the face of the base’s lower tier is a rectangular black marble inscription plaque with the white text: 

"European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 

BIATEC – the first coin minted in the 1st century BCE on the territory of present-day Bratislava was currency within the Celtic regions of Europe. 

Euro – the common European currency was adopted in Slovakia on 1.1.2009. 

On the eve of the Slovak Republic's entry into the Eurozone, the Ferdinand Martinengo Society installed the sculpture Biatec, the work of the sculptor Ľudmila Cvengrošová, which had been waiting for its opportunity for twenty years. 

Charitable support was provided by: The National Bank of Slovakia, the Bratislava City Hall, Mramor, the Bratislava City Gallery, Felbermayr, N-Stav, and the Regional Police Headquarters in Bratislava." 

Below the inscription are listed twenty-five names of sponsors. To the left of the plaque are the logos of the European Union (inscribed with HUMANITAS SOLIDARITAS) and the Bratislava Ferdinand Martinengo Society. 

Text above records that the work was created by Ľudmila Cvengrošová as early as 1988, having been commissioned by the City of Bratislava. The bronze sculpture was intended to adorn Bratislava Castle hill, and after casting was transferred to the city in 1990 – but instead of being installed, it was placed into storage. The work only entered the public space when Peter Kurhajec, chairman of the Ferdinand Martinengo Society, initiated its installation in front of the NBS building, with the ceremonial unveiling taking place on 12 December 2008. The sculpture symbolises transition from the old currency (Slovak koruna) to the new currency (Euro). 

PB

Research status as of 22 December 2023.