Commemorative coins of the Czech National Bank with a nominal value of 10,000 CZK commemorate the most significant national anniversaries. In 2025, gold coins minted in exceptional proof quality will be dedicated to the 1100th anniversary of the beginning of the reign of Saint Wenceslas.

Surprisingly little is known about the life of Saint Wenceslas, one of the greatest Czechs. Most of the information comes from idealised legends, but even these give us an idea of what our country looked like in the 10th century – a time when Christianity was taking root and the long process of establishing Czech statehood was underway... Prince Wenceslas of the Přemysl dynasty was renowned as a peaceful ruler endowed with a number of virtues, among which chivalry, morality and piety stood out. He cultivated wine and grain for Holy Communion, cared for the poor, ransomed slaves and built church buildings – such as the Prague Rotunda of St. Vitus, the predecessor of the cathedral of the same name. Wenceslas was led to a pure life in the spirit of the Christian faith by his grandmother, Saint Ludmila, who raised him until she was murdered by Wenceslas's spiteful mother, Drahomíra. During Wenceslas's ten-year reign, the country prospered, even after it was defeated militarily by the German ruler Henry I the Fowler. He managed to preserve the sovereignty of the Czech lands at the cost of submitting to the German Empire. However, Václav's younger brother Boleslav could not accept this and betrayed and murdered him. The fratricidal conflict, which resulted in the tragic death of the prince, turned Wenceslas into an unattainable ideal – the only Czech saint whose feast day is part of the worldwide calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, the heavenly patron of the Czech lands and a hero who, when the Czechs are at their worst, will rise from the dead and come to the aid of his people...

The winner of the Czech National Bank's art competition was academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů. The expert jury praised “the imaginative collage of St. Vitus' rotunda, built by St. Wenceslas, which stood on the site of today's St. Vitus Cathedral, and the symbol of the Přemyslids – the flaming eagle.“ The depiction of Saint Wenceslas on the reverse side is based on illuminations from the Velislav Bible and frescoes from the Rotunda of Saint Catherine in Znojmo. It is interesting to note that Wenceslas was tall, with a narrow face and, contrary to popular belief, probably had light hair. The date of his accession to the throne is not documented in historical sources. However, it can be proven that he ruled in the autumn of 925, when he had the remains of Saint Ludmila transferred to Prague, and so we symbolically commemorate this year.

All Czech coins come from the Czech Mint in Jablonec nad Nisou.