Gold coin with motifs of Bohemian and Moravian castles

The Czech National Bank issued a gold coin with the theme of Rabí Castle in a top design (with a nominal value of CZK 5,000); amount No. 98/2018, 5 September 2018, No. 198/2018 Coll., Decree on the issuance of the gold coin “Rabí Castle” for CZK 5,000 each.

Asamat Baltaev's design was chosen because "it best represents the monumentality of the castle ruins." The coin is the sixth in a ten-part cycle of gold coins "Castles of the Czech Republic".

The obverse of the coin shows an aerial view of the castle grounds, offering a bird's eye view of the castle ruins. In the right part of the coin field, figures from the emblems of the historical lands of the Czech Republic are incorporated into the fortified shooting bastions, namely the Bohemian lion, the Moravian eagle and the Silesian eagle. In the left part of the coin field there is the text "CZECH REPUBLIC" (THE CZECH REPUBLIC), the designation of the nominal value of the coin with the abbreviation of the monetary unit "5000 Kč" (CZK) and the name of the cycle "HRADY" (CASTLES). The mark of the Czech Mint, which consists of a composition of the letters "Č" and "M", is located below the text "CASTLE".

The reverse of the coin depicts a detailed view of the remains of castle buildings. In the lower left part of the coin field is the text "HRAD RABÍ" (RABÍ CASTLE) and the minting year "2018". The brand of the author of the coin, Asamat Baltaev, DiS, is located below the year of mintage.

The coats of arms of the countries of the Czech Republic have previously appeared on gold coins issued with motifs of Bohemian and Moravian castles. And we can find them elsewhere, for example on coins with bridge motifs.

Bohemian Castles Kost (released May 31, 2016):

On the obverse of the coin, in the upper half of the coin field, is a composition of the coats of arms of the historical countries of the Czech Republic. In the middle is a Bohemian lion, to the left of it is a Moravian eagle and to the right of it is a Silesian eagle. Under the composition of heraldic animals, the portal of the door to the castle chapel is depicted. Inside the portal in the lower half of the coin field is the name of the state "ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA" (THE CZECH REPUBLIC), the name of the cycle "CASTLE" and the denomination of the coin with the abbreviation of the monetary unit "5000 Kč" (CZK). The mark of the Czech Mint, which consists of a composition of the letters "Č" and "M", is at the lower edge of the coin. 

The reverse of the coin depicts Kost Castle. At the upper edge of the coin are the initials of the coin's author, academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů, which consist of a composition of the letters "F" and "Z", followed by the text "HRAD" "KOST" (CASTLE BONE) and the year of mintage "2016", separated by dots.

Bezděz (released October 25, 2016):

The obverse of the coin shows the interior of the castle chapel. The interior surfaces of the windows are filled with compositions of figures from the characters of the historical countries of the Czech Republic. In the middle is a Bohemian lion, to the left a Moravian eagle and to the right a Silesian eagle. In the lower part, the name of the cycle "CASTLE" and the designation of the nominal value of the coin with the abbreviation of the monetary unit "5 000 Kč" (CZK 5,000) are placed in two lines, which are delimited by dots at the beginning and end. The name of the country "ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA" (THE CZECH REPUBLIC) is in the description at the bottom edge of the coin. The mark of the Czech Mint, which consists of a composition of the letters "Č" and "M", is to the left of the name of the state.

The reverse of the coin shows Bezděz Castle. At the left edge is the year of mintage "2016", which is bordered at the beginning and end by a dot, followed by the text "HRAD BEZDĚZ" (CASTLE BEZDĚZ). At the right edge of the coin is the mark of the author of the coin, Asamat Baltaev.

Zvíkov (released on May 29, 2018):

The obverse of the coin is dominated by a fragment of a wood carving of the altar of the Lamentation of Christ, located in the Zvíkov chapel of St. Wenceslas. In the upper part of the coin field there is a composition of emblems of historical countries of the Czech Republic. The mark of the Czech Mint, which consists of a composition of the letters "Č" and "M", is located at the lower edge of the coin.

On the reverse of the coin, at the top of the coin field, is a composition of two early Gothic glazed tiles with a griffin motif and a hunting scene. Between the tiles is a shield with a swan motif, which was used by the lords of Švamberk. In the middle of the coin field there is a collage of 4 castle buildings, from left to right are the Tuber Tower, the Písek Gate, the Hláska Tower and the Chapel of St. Wenceslas. To the left of the composition is the text "HRAD" (CASTLE) and to the right the text "ZVÍKOV". The year of mintage "2018" is located under the Písek Gate. The initials of the author of the coin, Luboš Charvát, which consist of the interconnected letters "L" and "Ch", are located below the year of minting.

Moravian Castle Pernštejn (released on October 24, 2017):

The obverse of the coin shows a detail of a Gothic door with a repeating emblem of the Pernštejn family. The upper part of the door is covered with a composition of emblems of historical countries of the Czech Republic. The name of the state "ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA" (THE CZECH REPUBLIC) is located in the upper left part of the coin field. The denomination of the coin "5 000" with the abbreviation of the monetary unit "Kč" (CZK) and the name of the cycle "HRADY" (CASTLES) are located in the lower left part of the coin field. The mark of the Czech Mint, which consists of a composition of the letters "Č" and "M", is at the lower edge of the coin.

On the reverse of the coin is a part of Pernštejn Castle. In the upper left part of the coin field is the text "HRAD PERNŠTEJN" (PERNŠTEJN CASTLE). At the bottom of the coin field is a bison with a coal miner. The initials of the author of the coin, Luboš Charvát, which consist of the interconnected letters "L" and "Ch", are located below the bison. The year of mintage "2017" is located in the left part of the coin field.

Signs with the emblems of Moravia and Silesia on the way from Ostravice to Lysá Hora

 At the beginning of March 2018, three tourists from Poruba took a train trip to Ostravice. From there, they went from the railway station in Ostravice to Bezruč's cottage on Lysá Hora. Right at the beginning of the journey, they took pictures on the bridge over the river Ostravice with signs with the emblems of Moravia and Silesia. Marks here announce the land border on the river Ostravice.

 

From the text on the page After the Bear's Paws we learn that: "After all, the ancient border between Moravia and Silesia crosses today's Ostravice exactly as the river of the same name meanders. Today it is also reminded to visitors of this mountain village, because on every bridge over the river enamel plates with historical emblems of both countries, ie Moravia and Silesia. As if you crossed the real border of two countries."

A comparison with the designation of the land border between Bohemia and Moravia near Sirákov is offered. There are used texts Welcome to the Kingdom of Bohemia and Welcome to the Margraviate of Moravia referring to historical lands (historical state formations in the territory of today's Czech Republic).

The centenary of the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic is here, so it is advisable to decorate your clothes with a decent badge in state colors during any walk, which was reported in the article Three common colors of tricolors, three of our historical countries, one beautiful republic.

Káva Hag/Kaffee Hag, Znaky Republiky Československé – Wappen der Tschechoslowakischen Republik

Around 1933, the company Káva Hag akc. spol. z Mariánské lázně in a simple and luxurious version (with a solid color cover) released (at Grafické Umělecké Závody v. Neubert a synové, Praha-Smíchov (Graphischen Kunstanstalten v. Neubert und Söhne, Prag-Smíchov)) stamp album Znaky Republiky Československé (Signs of the Czechoslovak Republic) - Kaffee Hag, A. G.: Wappen der Tschechoslowakischen Republik. Its authors were Vilém Klein and Antonín Morávek.

Information and pictures from the album are provided by the Heraldry of the world website, from where the pictures were taken. More information about the company can be found in the article Coffe Hag Albums. The album features detailed text on heraldry, and as in other albums, has a chapter on coffee and caffeine.

 The album contains emblems/coats of arms of individual Czechoslovak countries (lands) and city emblems. A total of 181 stamps were printed. Image variants: 8 different images. A total of 285 different images are known.

The album was released twice, which led to some changes in the marks (but not in the album itself). The only real variation is the case of the Unicorn emblem. Another thing concerns land coats of arms - they are captured with two types of shields. Finally, many characters in the first edition were accompanied only by Czech text, in the second edition the texts are bilingual. 

The album was released as Part 1, but the second part was no longer released. It contains 180 stamps with pictures numbered in each section separately. It is divided by country into chapters.

The album is divided into chapters according to countries, with the coats of arms of the countries on separate pages (in the luxury edition it is conceived in this way exclusively); followed again by the provincial coats of arms, the emblem of the provincial capital and alphabetically the emblems of other cities and towns. The countries are: Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia. The data supplied to individual cities generally do not explain their characters, but provide some notes on the history and description (blason) of the coat of arms. The coats of arms are explained only in some cases. An indication of the city's population is also provided.

The backs of the pictures show the description of the characters in both German and Czech.

Notebook of Herald Hendrik van Heessel

 Notebook of the herald Hendrik van Heessel (first mentioned in 1433, when he acquired the right to wear a heraldic tabard from Emperor Sigismund following the emperor's Roman coronation; he died in 1470), stored in the Henrik Conscienc Library in Antwerp (Belgium), the manuscript of which is available on the Internet, František Pícha deals with the contribution of the Czech and Moravian Coats of Arms in the notebook of the herald Hendrik van Heessel published in Genealogical and Heraldic Information 2013, Brno 2014, pp. 5-18. Heraldic drawings irregularly appearing in the manuscript have a relatively high artistic quality. They must have been made occasionally when the herald wanted to record a fact that caught his attention that might be useful in the future.

The coat of arms of the Moravian margrave is drawn on folium 55v: a crowned silver-red checkered eagle with gold armor in the blue field of shield. Sixteen coats of arms of Moravian noble families accompany the Moravian eagle on the 56r-57r foils. They are marked in German as the coats of arms of the lords subject to the Duke of Albrecht of Austria as the Moravian Margrave: "Daz seyn dy lant heren dy under herzog Albrecht von osterreich margrave zu meraun etc gehoren hir nach aufgman wapenen gesnaben".

A similar collection of twenty-six coats of arms of Bohemian noble families, which bears the emblem of the Bohemian king, with a similar note about their affiliation with the Bohemian king, can be found on foils 61v-63r: Daz seyn dy lant heren ritter und knechten dy zu der wapen seyn geporen um dem only from here to the end of the coat ".

The Morava ship at the pier in the dock on the Brno dam in Bystrc

 In the photographs of the Morava ship anchored at the pier of the Brno Reservoir pier, we can see the starboard and port sides of the ship and the upper deck of the ship, a detail of a replica of the original wheelhouse.

Coat of arms of Moravia and coat of arms of Bohemia in Armorial Gelre

Armorial Gelre and the coats of arms of the Moravian margrave and the Bohemian king in it have already been discussed in a contribution to it. However, until now it has been updated, the article did not contain an image of the Moravian emblem from the original, which you can see below. It is a very nice Moravian eagle.

It is interesting that above the shield of the coat of arms of Moravia is a (probably younger) Latin suffix "moraviae" (ending?). Along the side of the shield is the original old Dutch abbreviation: "m [ar] cg [raaf] va [n] mereren". 

The original is available on the website of The Royal Library of Belgium, now known as KBR.

The Flag with Moravian eagle - suggested form of the sheet of historical flag of Moravia

On the picture below there is the Moravian eagle (Azure an eagle displayed chequy argent and gules, crowned Or), as it is depicted on the flag, which represents the historical flag of Moravia used in the third millennium. A crowned silvery-red chequered eagle with golden claws and tongue in the blue sheet of the flag.