Gold 3 ducat, which pays tribute to Cyril and Methodius, is issued under the premium brand Czech Ducats, which is part of the Czech Mint.

The Great Moravian Empire, founded in 833, had to fight for its place in the sun in the shadow of the expansionist East Frankish Empire. Militarily, our Slavic ancestors defended themselves heroically, but they lacked an independent church organization to achieve full independence. The inhabitants of Great Moravia at that time were already familiar with Christianity. They had been introduced to it by missionaries coming from Bavaria, but Prince Rostislav had them expelled because, in addition to the faith, they were spreading dangerous Frankish influence. Instead, Rostislav sought someone independent who could explain the Scriptures to his subjects in an understandable way and without ulterior motives. He therefore turned to the Byzantine emperor, who granted his request and sent missionaries to Central Europe. The thoughtful philosopher Constantine, who later took the monastic name Cyril, was among the most intelligent people of his time, while the practical lawyer Methodius possessed organizational skills and the experience of an imperial prefect. In the year 863, the learned brothers brought with them not only the Christian faith, but also law and education. They created the first Slavic alphabet – Glagolitic - and the liturgical language - Old Church Slavonic. Both the nobility and the common people among the Slavs accepted them as their teachers…

The gold ducat is minted in incuse design - meaning that the motif on one side is recessed below the surface. The faces of both missionaries, separated by a Christian cross, were designed by medalist Adam Alva Fejfar. “Since this is a depiction of brothers, they must be similar, even though there is a significant age difference between them. I created many sketches, which I gradually stripped down and simplified until they were reduced to mere silhouettes. I came to the conclusion that for both portraits I would start with basic, identical features, which I would merely sketch out, and I would only discover the final appearance of both brothers during the modeling process. My aim was to achieve a sense of an identical visual foundation and then, through free modeling, to give each portrait a slightly different character,” explains the artist.

The edition consists of only 50 pieces.