Our ancestors used to give gold pennies for luck to newborn babies in the cradle. It was not just any penny, but the famous ducat. The Czech Mint continues this beautiful custom by minting a ducat to the birth of a child.

Ducat mintages have a long tradition in Bohemia. John of Luxembourg was the first to mint gold coins (then called florins), followed by Charles IV, the Father of the Fatherland. His Czech ducats were in circulation for several centuries. In modern times, they were followed by the Czechoslovak and St. Wenceslas ducats. Because of their beauty and, above all, their value, they became a common gift given to babies so that they would not suffer from want in life.  The ducats “into cradle“ were almost forgotten after the Second World War, but the Czech Mint decided to revive this tradition by minting its own gold ducats designed specifically for the occasion of the birth of a child. The beauty and value of the gold remained and a personal value in the form of an engraved dedication was added.

The design of the ducat for 2022 is the work of medal maker Petr Patka, DiS. The obverse side is dedicated to a pair of cute babies, supplemented with a heart and the inscription DUKÁT K NAROZENÍ DÍTĚTE (DUCAT TO THE BIRTH OF A CHILD). On the reverse side you will find beads inscribed with the zodiac signs. This relief defines the space for engraving the text which can take the form of a personal message, name, date of birth, ... - there are no limits to imagination. The only limit is the size of the text: 3 lines of 10 characters including spaces.

The issue is stored in an elegant gift packaging that you can also customize. In addition to the ducat, it also contains a certificate of authenticity with space for inscribing a personal dedication and the baby's details.