Gold ducat CR 2025 - Restrike of Charles IV ducat proof
Gold ducat CR 2025 - Restrike of Charles IV ducat proof
Product description
The so-called Charles ducats were created on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the death of Charles IV in 1978 as a continuation of the first republican St.Wenceslas ducats. These were the first gold coins issued in socialist Czechoslovakia since 1951. Today, these coins are numismatic attractions and have become the models for the Czech Mint's replicas, which include a faithful re-creation of the gold one-ducat.
Few have left such a mark on our history as Charles IV. He was famous as a fearless warrior, but he was also an enlightened thinker who knew five languages and wrote an autobiography that served as a lesson for his successors. He loved women, wine and chivalric tournament, but was well aware of the importance of education. He excelled in the delicate art of diplomacy and was a master at forging dynastic alliances. He found support in the Church and contributed to the elevation of the Bishopric of Prague to the rank of Archbishopric. He was the first of the Bohemian kings to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor, but although he became one of the most powerful men in the world, he did not forget the Bohemian lands. He honoured the legacy of his Přemyslid ancestors, transformed impoverished Prague into the heart of the Holy Roman Empire, created a whole out of the disunited Bohemian state called the lands of the Bohemian Crown, and secured for his successors a privileged position in the vast multinational empire. It is no wonder that Charles IV received from the Czechs the affectionate title of Father of the Fatherland...
The theme of the Charles One-Doctrine was personality. According to the assignment, the depiction of Charles IV was to be inspired by, for example, the bust in the triforium of St. Vitus Cathedral or the statue from the Old Town Bridge Tower of Charles Bridge. The design by Petr Formánek was realised, presenting a three-quarter-length portrait of the monarch, a shield with a Bohemian lion, the Gothic initial K, the name KAREL IV and the years 1346-1378, when Luxembourg was King of Bohemia and Rome and later Emperor of Rome. The replica was prepared by the medal maker Mária Filová, DiS.
The new mintage is published in an edition of only 300 pieces and respects the specifications of the original.