Silver coin from the Czech Mint’s open series, which pays tribute to Alphonse Mucha, serves as a reminder that he was not only an artist but also a cosmopolitan.

The painter Alphonse Mucha was born in Ivančice, Moravia, but he did not receive recognition in his homeland. He failed the entrance exams to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, so he decided to go abroad. In Vienna, he worked as a painter of theater sets; in Munich, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts; and he eventually settled in Paris, which was the center of culture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. There, he became famous for the theater posters he painted for the actress Sarah Bernhardt, and his name soon became synonymous with Art Nouveau. Mucha then took this decorative artistic style, which was considered the embodiment of European elegance, across the Atlantic. In America, he became an admired part of cultural life and found a patron there. Millionaire Charles R. Crane enabled him to create his life’s work - a monumental series of twenty large-format paintings titled The Slav Epic. Although Mucha always emphasized his Slavic identity, his life’s journey and artistic reach made him a true cosmopolitan- a citizen of the world whose work spoke to all people regardless of borders or nationality…

The coin’s designer, Mgr.Art. Miroslav Hric, ArtD., selected a work from Mucha’s cosmopolitan period in the form of a poster for the Prague insurance company Slavia from 1907. On the reverse side, you will find a faithful relief reconstruction of a painting of a Slavic woman, which the medalist accompanied with Mucha’s initials AM. The obverse side is dominated by decorative floral motifs. Since the Czech Mint’s coins are issued under a foreign license from the island of Niue, the obverse side also bears its national coat of arms, the nominal value of 1 DOLLAR (NZD), and the year of issue 2026.

The mintage of the silver coin is limited to just 500 pieces.