The free-spirited period of liberalisation in 1968, which went down in history as the “Prague Spring“, was suddenly and brutally suppressed by a military invasion. A set of four silver coins from the Czech Mint commemorates the fateful events that took place 55 years ago. Each coin is minted from two troy ounces of pure silver in piedfort design - this means that the coins are twice as thick as traditional minted coins.

Czechoslovakia became a vassal of the Soviet Union and a totalitarian regime was established here after the communist coup in 1948. Two decades later, however, better times were to come. Not only ordinary people, but also the reformist communists at the head of the state desired political, social and economic change. Under the leadership of the Slovak politician Alexander Dubček, the democratisation of Czechoslovakia was to come. The building of “socialism with a human face“ included, for example, increased freedom of speech, the opening of borders and the orientation of the economy towards consumer goods. The manifesto of the Czech writer Ludvík Vaculík, entitled “Two Thousand Words“, signed by tens of thousands of citizens and hundreds of public figures, called for support for progressive forces and demanded even more radical changes in Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union, however, was not going to stand by and watch loose of influence in Central Europe. The Czechoslovak reform movement, which was labelled counter-revolutionary, was therefore violently suppressed by the invasion of the “friendly“ communist armies of the Warsaw Pact. The era of “normalisation“ began in the occupied country. Totalitarian practices were strengthened and conditions returned to the levels prevailing in the 1950s. Therefore, almost 150,000 intelligent, educated and skilled people emigrated abroad. It took another twenty years before Czechoslovakians could breathe freely again…

The author of all four coins in the set is the medal maker Mgr. Art. Miroslav Hric, Art. D. The individual reverse sides present the popular photograph of Alexander Dubček jumping into a swimming pool; a portrait and a quote by Ludvík Vaculik; a Soviet tank in front of the National Museum; the crumbling number 68 on the Czechoslovak flag. The unifying motif that permeates all four reverse sides is birds flying to freedom. This idea is continued on the common obverse side of the coins, which bears a flock of birds and a tattered barbed wire. As the coins of the Czech Mint are issued with the foreign licence of the island of Niue, the obverse side also bears its national emblem, the nominal value of FIVE DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2023.

The four-piece set of coins is stored in an elegant box.