New gold coin celebrating Plzeň sells for nearly CZK 60,000

The Czech National Bank has unveiled a new gold coin dedicated to the west Bohemian city of Plzeň. Although its face value is 5,000 crowns, collectors are already paying almost 60,000 for it. Made from pure gold, the coin features some of Plzeň’s best-known landmarks and forms part of the bank’s series honouring historic Czech cities.

The coin was presented on Tuesday at the Masné krámy gallery in Plzeň, attended by its creator, sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů. Czech National Bank board member Karina Kubelková outlined its technical specifications:

Photo: ČNB

“It is minted from pure gold with a fineness of 999.9. It has a diameter of 28 millimetres, a thickness of 1.8 millimetres, and weighs 15.55 grams, which is half a troy ounce. It is the eleventh coin in the Urban Heritage Reserves series and is dedicated to the city of Plzeň.”

The final design was selected from a competition involving sixteen leading Czech medallists and artists. Fojtů says his knowledge of the city helped inspire the coin’s appearance:

“The most important landmarks for me were the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew, the Renaissance town hall, and other buildings mainly from the 19th century. I also wanted to include a building featuring sgraffito decorations by Mikoláš Aleš, who created dozens of designs for buildings in Plzeň.”

One side of the coin features the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew, part of the House at the Red Heart on Republic Square, and a fragment of the decorative sgraffito plasterwork, together with the inscription “City of Plzeň” and the year 2026.

Photo: Západočeská galerie v Plzni

The other side shows part of the Renaissance town hall on Republic Square, alongside the Czech lion, the Moravian eagle and the Silesian eagle from the national coat of arms, as well as part of the municipal library building on Bedřich Smetana Street.

Karel Zoch, head of heritage preservation at Plzeň City Hall, praised the balance of the design:

Photo: ČNB

“The aim was not to include absolutely everything, because the historic centre of Plzeň is a magnificent collection of outstanding buildings from different architectural periods. What I like about the design is its balance: the artist managed to include something from almost every era, creating a broad spectrum.”

The Czech National Bank produced 2,600 standard editions of the coin, along with another 5,500 highly polished proof versions aimed at collectors. While the coin’s official value is 5,000 crowns, its market price is much higher. At Tuesday’s unveiling, it was selling for more than 59,000 crowns, reflecting the cost of gold as well as production and distribution expenses.

The coin is available through authorised Czech National Bank distributors. Although it can technically be used as payment if a shop agrees to accept it, the Czech National Bank itself will only redeem it at its official face value of 5,000 crowns.