In 2021, the Czech Mint and the Czech National Bank dedicated the traditional set of circulation coins with a sports theme to the European Football Championship, which was affected by a coronavirus pandemic.

The European Football Championship began in France in 1960 and since then it has been played every 4 years in various countries on the continent. The year 2020 was supposed to be an extraordinary year for this sports event - because the championship celebrated its 60th "birthday", its 16th year was to host twelve cities in all corners of Europe. However, Wembley Stadium (London, England), Allianz Arena (Munich, Germany), Stadio Olimpico (Rome, Italy), Olympic Stadium (Baku, Azerbaijan), Krestovsky Stadium (St. Petersburg, Russia), Puskás Arena (Budapest, Hungary), Arena Națională (Bucharest, Romania), Aviva Stadium (Dublin, Ireland), Parken Stadium (Copenhagen, Denmark), Hampden Park (Glasgow, Scotland), San Mamés (Bilbao, Spain) and Johan Cruyff Arena (Amsterdam, Netherlands) did not host the football elite in the end. The tournament was postponed to 2021 due to an unexpected coronavirus pandemic that affected the entire planet…

The set includes six circulation coins with nominal values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 CZK, which were minted in 2021 and did not go to circulation. Another piece of the puzzle is a special commemorative token of medal maker Petr Patka, DiS. While the obverse side of the token presents a dynamic figure of a football player supplemented with a list of twelve host cities, the reverse side bears a soccer ball in which the names of all host countries are inscribed. London in England, where the final match is to take place, has a special attention. Therefore, the reverse side is dominated by the iconic Big Ben. All this is stored in a special packaging that resembles the individual stadiums of the championship.

Do not miss the original commemoration of that football event!