In 2013  we commemorated the birth of the Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio, and on this occasion, the Czech Mint launched a series of commemorative silver medals, inspired by his most famous work - novel The Decameron. The seventh medal in a row is dedicated to a hilarious episode about a ghost.

Boccaccio came into the world as an illegitimate son of well situated banker, who guided him to the law studies at the University of Naples. He achieved a considerable success with his ability to tell a humorous situations from everyday life, and also became famous for his  refined imagination.

The seventh day of the book's Decameron is in the sign of a stories, in which the wives trick their men in different situations. It is no different in the first story - The Ghost. Very little savvy draper Gianni Lotteringhi has a beautiful wife Tessa. She falls in love with a young man Federigo and begins to secretly meet with him. One night, however, their prearranged signal does not work, and the young man knocks on the door of his lover, even though she is with her husband at that moment. Terrified Tessa saves the situation by invocation of the "ghosts", which  will quickly understand how things are, and flees. The next day the two lovers have a real laugh!

The obverse of the silver medal is composed of a scene from the story ‘The Ghost’, along with the tree of life, thematically connecting the series of The Decameron. The academic sculptor Vladimír Oppl enchanted the obverse side also with a feature of the Roman erotic token, called the Spintriae. The reverse side then includes Giovanni Boccaccio himself and the sculpture of a house in Certaldo, where the artist lived. The three dates commemorate the writer's birth date (1313), death (1375) and the 700th anniversary of his birth (2013).

Spice up your collection with a ticklishly humorous mintage! The series The Decameron also has its own collector's album, that tastefully stores your artistic treasures...