The tenth gold coin of the Czech Mint from the Mythical Creatures series is dedicated to the Sphinx.

In the Egyptian world, the Sphinx is a mysterious creature with the body of a lion and the noble face of a Pharaoh. She is a symbol of power, silence and patience and is said to measure the time left to mankind. The Greek Sphinx was also powerful and mysterious, but by no means patient. A monster with the head and chest of a naked woman, the body of a lion, the tail of a snake and the wings of an eagle, lived near the city of Thebes and harassed passers-by with intricate riddles. Those who did not know the answer paid with their lives. A puzzle that every young child knows today was only solved by the mythical Oedipus. What creature walks on all fours at morning, two at noon and three at night? The man who toddles in childhood, walks upright as an adult and uses a stick in old age. The defeated Sphinx committed suicide by throwing herself into the sea, where she drowned...

The medal maker Mária Filová, DiS., placed the sitting Sphinx in her Greek form on the reverse side of the coin and supplemented it with the English inscription SPHINX. It is not without interest that the mintage does not have a classic coin frame - instead, the relief is surrounded by decorative Hellenistic ornaments that permeate the entire collecting cycle. As the coins of the Czech Mint are issued with a foreign licence from the island of Niue, their obverse sides bear the name and profile of the monarch Elizabeth II, the nominal value of 5 DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2022.

Remember that the Czech Mint also offers a spectacular collector's album where you can store your complete twelve-piece collection of mythical creatures.