The silver coin of the Czech National Bank with a nominal value of 200 CZK which is minted in quality standard, commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of composer Bedřich Smetana.

Bedřich Smetana learned to play the violin when he was only four, made his first public appearance at the age of six, composed his first composition at the age of eight and the famous Louise Polka at the age of sixteen. He was not only a brilliant artist, but also a conscious patriot. He managed to raise Czech music to a world level without suppressing its distinctive identity, and thus became the founder of modern Czech national music. "God knows what strange magic there is in Smetana's music! Tears burst out at tender places, and on the contrary of that you get up from your seat and do not even know that you have already risen," wrote Smetana's contemporary Jan Neruda. Similar impressions are experienced by listeners today - for example, the festive opera Libuše or the cycle of symphonic poems My Fatherland (Má vlast) evoke feelings of pride and belonging to the Czech country. It is not only Smetana's tones that are emotional, but also his fate. Although he went completely deaf at the age of fifty, he did not give up and managed to compose a number of masterpieces…

The design by the medal maker Jiří Hanuš, DiS.  won the art competition of the Czech National Bank. The expert committee appreciated the imaginative incorporation of the text MÁ VLAST into the panorama of Hradčany on the obverse side and the portrait of Bedřich Smetana on the reverse side of the coin.

All Czech coins - both commemorative and circulation - are produced at the Czech Mint in Jablonec nad Nisou.