We commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the first Czechoslovak Constitution and Constitutional Court in 2020. The Czech Mint introduced the half-ounce gold medal as a part of the free cycle of the most beautiful unrealized designs that entered the competition of the Czech National Bank to commemorate a key event in the history of our statehood.

The most important Czechoslovak law, which replaced the Provisional Constitution of 1918, was approved by the National Assembly after difficult negotiations on 29 February 1920. At the same time, the parliamentary democracy was founded. But the constitution is not just a definition of the organization of power in a country. It presents the fundamental values, principles and traditions of society, guarantees fundamental human rights and freedoms to citizens and declares their loyalty. It looks into the past and refers to the historical circumstances that preceded its formation. But it looks also to the future and expresses its ambition and determination to protect and build its homeland. The authors of the Czechoslovak Constitution were inspired by the documents of the USA, Austria-Hungary and France and added a number of significant innovations. Czechoslovakia was thus among the first states that provided women with voting rights, and it was also among the first countries that established a constitutional court whose task was to assess the constitutionality of laws and respect for the rules of state. The steady constitutional foundations of Czechoslovakia are evidenced by the fact that our first constitution survived the hardships of World War II and remained valid until 1948, when it was abolished by the Communist regime. Our current constitution follows the previous one in many ways…

The design of the commemorative medal was processed according to the artistic proposal of MgA. Petra Čánská, who was awarded by the Czech National Bank's expert commission. The obverse side presents the binding of the ceremonial version of the Czechoslovak constitution and the reverse side presents its preamble which begins with the words “We, the Czechoslovak nation”. The request for a constitutional charter in dignified and representative executive form appeared in 1927 (for the occasion of taking the Presidential Oath), was approved in 1928 and implemented in 1932. Josef Sejpka and the company Jirout and Alexandrová secured the graphic design of the constitution in the form of handwriting and illuminations on parchment. The composition of the reverse was supplemented with a silhouette of scales that symbolize justice and thus refer to the establishment of the Czechoslovak Constitutional Court.

Each of only 99 medals is hand-numbered on the edge and accompanied by a special certificate of authenticity that tells the story of the constitutional pillars of Czechoslovakia.