Gold ducat Josef Lada - Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Svejk - Budejovice anabasis proof

The final gold ducat in a three-part mini-series from the Czech Mint, which uses illustrations by Josef Lada to depict the fates of the Good Soldier Švejk, commemorates the Budějovice Anabasis.

It was already dark when the sergeant decided that they would now set off with Švejk on the journey to Písek. It was impossible to see a step ahead in the blizzard, and the race organizer kept saying: "Keep going straight ahead until you reach Písek." When he said this for the third time, his voice was no longer coming from the road, but from somewhere below, where he had slid down the slope in the snow. With the help of his rifle, he laboriously climbed back up to the road. Švejk heard him laughing breathlessly: "Slippery." But in a moment he could no longer be heard, for he slid down the slope again, shouting so loudly that he drowned out the wind: "I'm falling, my word!" The sergeant turned into a diligent ant, who, when he falls from somewhere, climbs back up tenaciously. The sergeant repeated his trip down the slope five times, and when he was back with Švejk, he said helplessly and desperately, "I could very well lose you." "Don't worry, Mr. Sergeant," said Švejk, "we'll do our best to tie ourselves together. That way we can't lose each other. Do you have handcuffs?" "Every policeman must always carry handcuffs with him," said the sergeant emphatically, stumbling around Švejk, "that's our daily bread."

When Švejk missed his train on the way to České Budějovice, he had to set off on foot to join his 91st regiment. However, he got lost during this journey and ended up in Putim, where he was caught in the clutches of the local police chief. The commander of the police station decided that Švejk was a Russian spy, so after a rather unsuccessful interrogation, he sent him to the district police headquarters in Písek. He was accompanied by a sergeant, but the latter decided to refresh himself along the way. Rum, kontušovka, čert, jeřabinka, ořechovka, višňovka, and vanilková did their job, so Švejk decided to chain himself to the drunk gendarme for safety's sake...

The gold ducat, designed by medallist LudmilaKracíková, DiS., is a faithful relief reconstruction of Josef Lada's book illustrations. The obverse side shows Švejk and the drunk sergeant, who are handcuffed together. The reverse side recalls what preceded the predicament – it shows Švejk being interrogated by the sergeant at the police station.

Do not miss that the first gold ducat came with a special collector's album where you can store the complete collection of three ducats.