The first set of a gold ducat and a silver thaler from the cycle of the Czech Mint called Royal Dowry Towns recalls the troubled fate of Eliška Rejčka.

Her life has been hard. She was born as Richenza and was the only daughter of the Polish King Przemysł II, Duke of Poland, who was murdered. She was to become the wife of Ota of Brandenburg, son of the Margrave of Brandenburg, but he died unexpectedly. When she was only twelve years old, she was married to the widowed Bohemian King Wenceslas II. She became the stepmother of his children, who were the same age as herself, and was soon crowned Queen of Bohemia and Poland. She took the name Eliška and her original name was corrupted to Rejčka. She bore a daughter, Anežka, but her joy did not last long - a few days later, at the age of seventeen, she became a widow. Eliška's stepson Wenceslas III ascended to the Czech throne, but he was murdered only a year later. The Přemyslids died out by the sword and Eliška Rejčka stood in the middle of a power struggle. The winner of this rivalry and the new King of Bohemia was Rudolf of Habsburg, who married Eliška. She became queen for a second time, but only briefly, as Rudolf fell in battle a year later. The young double widow found herself in a difficult situation, with the Premyslid, Habsburg and Luxemburg dynasties all struggling for control of her country. Fortunately, both deceased husbands remembered her generously. As a pledge, she received from them five dowry towns where she could take refuge - Hradec Králové, Chrudim and Vysoké Mýto from Václav, Polička and Jaroměř from Rudolf. Thanks to this, Eliška's fortune amounted to forty thousand talents of silver, and a horse was then worth four talents. Despite her wealth, she competed unsuccessfully for power with her stepdaughter Eliška Přemyslovna, whose husband John of Luxembourg eventually became the next King of Bohemia. She found her last love and support in the arms of the powerful nobleman Henry of Lipá. After she left her dowry towns to the king in return for a generous indemnity, she and her lover left to Brno, where they lived out their days - at a court whose splendour eclipsed even that of Prague. She entered history as an ambitious woman, a skilful diplomat and a great promoter of faith and education...

The two-piece set is the work of academic sculptor Michal Vitanovský. The obverse side of the ducat features the crowned head of Eliška Rejčka depicted from a three-quarter view on a surface partly covered with Gothic decoration. "The portrait was loosely inspired by contemporary depictions of the Queen in her illuminated manuscripts and on her seal," explains the artist. The obverse side of the thaler bears a stylized medieval map of Hradec Králové's surroundings, presenting the city at the confluence of rivers. "Underneath is a heraldic figure from the oldest known Hradec Králové coat of arms - a two-tailed crowned lion holding the initial G," the medal maker adds. The reverse side is then common to both the ducat and the thaler, with a significant part of its area belonging to the names of the five dowry towns of Eliška Rejčka. In the centre is the symbol that is the unifying element of the entire series of the Czech Mint - a shield with a profile of a woman, above which is the well-known heraldic motif of the castle crown. "The two pheasants in the lower part remind us of the typical product of the Hradec Králové pheasantry and represent the source of income that the Queen received from her dowry towns," concludes Michal Vitanovský, a history expert.

The issue limit of the gold-silver set is only 200 pieces.