Silver medal Jan Janský proof

Jan Janský was a Czech physician, psychiatrist and neurologist, who earned recognition for his discovery and classification of blood into four basic types. At the time, Roman numerals I, II, III and IV were used to designate the blood types. Later on, this form of designation was abandonned and replaced with letters A, B, AB and O, as they are today known to all voluntary blood donors.

This major discovery passed almost unnoticed in 1907, when it was made. No sooner than in 1921, after Janský’s death, did the American Medical Commission acknowledge his classification.  In a hypothetical competition for primacy, Janský gained priority over an Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the blood types even before Janský, but classified only three of them, not four.

On the obverse side the academic sculptor Jiří Věneček placed the effigy of Jan Janský, his name and biographical data are written in the circumscription.

A microscope and four newly designated blood types: A, B, AB and O are featured on the reverse side of the medal, together with their depiction.

The motif is complemented with text in circumscription – Objevitel čtyř krevních skupin (Discoverer of four blood types).

Limited edition: 500 pcs