Silver coin Book templates - H. C. Andersen - The Little Mermaid proof

The second silver coin from the Czech Mint's series dedicated to the fairy tales of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen commemorates The Little Mermaid.

Andersen's world-famous fairy tale The Little Mermaid tells a story of longing and self-sacrifice. Its heroine, a mermaid from a royal family, saves a prince from drowning and falls hopelessly in love with him. She naively believes that if she becomes a human woman, the prince will return her feelings, and thus she makes a fateful deal with the sea witch. She exchanged her voice for human legs, but if she does not find love, she will die. The prince likes her, but in the end he marries another woman, unaware of all that the mermaid has sacrificed for him. Disappointed and desperate, she learns of the only way to save herself. If she kills the prince, she will be able to return to the kingdom. But her love is too strong. Instead, she decides to sacrifice herself, dissolving into the waves, but not perishing. She gains a new, incorporeal form and with it the hope of an immortal soul... In addition to unhappy love, the fairy tale also deals with the search for the meaning of life – that not all desires can be fulfilled and that true greatness lies in selflessness...

Medal maker MgA.Petra Čánská dedicated the reverse side of the coin to a charming mermaid who, with a dreamy expression, watches a sailboat sailing on the surface from the depths of the water. Her red-colored flowing hair illuminates the dark underwater world. The obverse side of the coin shows Andersen's most famous fairy tales – small scenes of The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Emperor's Nightingale, The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid. "The motif of children holding hands at the bottom of the composition is inspired by the cover of one of Andersen's books," reveals the author. Since the Czech Mint coins are issued with the foreign license of the island of Niue, they also bear its national emblem, the nominal value of 1 DOLLAR (NZD), and the year of issue 2025 on the obverse side.

Do not miss the previous commemorative coin featuring The Snow Queen.